My Top Films for 2022

I used to list the movies that I watched in the cinema for the year but I've missed out to post about it for so many years. I'm catching up now, so that is why you're seeing the 2022 list in 2025. I didn't watch too many movies per year especially after the pandemic so it's not really hard to rank it. How many movies do you watch at the cinema/movie theaters now?

Here's how my 2022 movie list looks like. There's only 6 movies in it...it's not much but it's something.

6 - The Matrix Resurrections

Image source from WarnerBros

Technically this movie was released in December 2021, but I watched it in 2022 so that's why it is in this list. I don't remember much what happened in the previous 3 movies but surprisingly it's not too hard to follow the story in this latest installment. There's some really good casting here with the new characters. The movie is quite enjoyable with some pretty cool sequences but sadly the box-office returns was quite poor. Maybe it didn't feel as special as the original trilogy? I kind of feel something missing too, but I can't quite make out what it is. Still, like I said, the movie is enjoyable and I feel it improves with repeat viewing.

5 - DC League of Super-Pets

Image source from WarnerBros

This is a really fun and funny movie. It's seriously better than I anticipated. While the superhero animals are great, the one that steals the show for me is the main villain, a skinny pig named Lulu, who has flight and telekinesis power and voiced by Kate McKinnon. Warner Bros. Pictures Animation has some great and smart animation films under its belt like The Lego Movie and Storks, and this movie is another good addition to their list.

My Top Films for 2021

I only have 7 movies here in my 2021 list, so it's obviously not a top 10 list as per usual, but at least it's more than the 6 movies that I've listed for 2020...so I guess that's still a win? The pandemic really hampered me from going to the cinemas but to be honest, it really changed my habit of watching movies too. So far in 2022, I've only watched 5 movies, far less than what I used to before the pandemic.

I don't know how my 2022 list will look like but let's just focus on the current list. Late as per usual, here's my top films for 2021 (only those that I watched at the cinemas).

7 - The Vigil

Image source from Wikipedia

Have you heard about this movie before? I certainly didn't before I went to see it, so I didn't really had any expectation going into the cinema hall. I did quite enjoyed watching it; it has its moments and the creepy atmosphere was well done despite the small budget and the limited setting. The Vigil is the directorial debut feature of Keith Thomas (he later directed Firestarter) and starred Dave Davis, Menashe Lustig, Lynn Cohen and Ronald Cohen. The story involves the culture and relationship in the Orthodox Jewish community which I'm not familiar of and so I find the story quite interesting.

6 - Venom: Let There be Carnage

Image source from Wikipedia

This sequel to the 2018 movie Venom see the return of Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams and Reid Scott alongside newcomers Woody Harrelson, Naomie Harris and Stephen Graham. Directed by Andy Serkis, the movie continue to explore the love hate relationship between Venom and its human host Eddie Brock, while facing new enemies in the form of Carnage and its human host, a psychotic serial killer Cletus Kasady, as well as Kasady's lover Frances Barrison. The relationship between Venom and Eddie Brock is the most interesting aspect of the movie in my opinion beside some of the fun action scenes. I can't decide if I like this movie or the 1st one better, both movies have things that I like and dislike, either way I hope they can make it even more interesting for the 3rd movie which was confirmed to be in development by Sony.

5 - Mortal Kombat

Image source from Wikipedia

I watched this at the cinema despite it being released in HBO Go here in Malaysia as well. I do find myself enjoying the movie more while watching it at home on HBO Go compared to the cinema which I find kind of interesting. Where did you watched Mortal Kombat if you did watched it? Nevertheless, it was a fun movie overall with many great fight scenes, especially the one involving Sub-Zero and Scorpion. The ice special effects involving Sub-Zero were really beautiful to look at. I particularly love the opening of the movie which shows the back story of Hanzo Hasashi who would later become Scorpion. I don't think there is anything to shout about plot-wise since this is a martial arts movie so obviously the fight scenes should be the draw of this film. While the fight scenes were good, I do wish some of them were a little bit extended; some fights were shorter than others... although that kind of understandable considering the many characters that were featured in this movie. A sequel had been greenlit by the studio so if you're a fan, watch out for more news on that.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is available now on HBO GO

Did you guys know that the 3rd Conjuring film, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is available now on HBO GO? I'm not sure for other countries but if you are in Malaysia and you are subscribed to HBO GO, you can already watch it! It's out on the platform on 27th August 2021 but I'm not sure for how long. If I'm not mistaken, new movies only available for one month in the US on HBO Max so I'm not sure if HBO GO will follow in the same direction.

By the way, just in case you don't know this, if you're already subscribed to the movie package with ASTRO subscription (which include HBO channel), you automatically get access to the platform by using your Astro ID.

This really is a nice surprise. We're still partly in lockdown and cinemas are still not open here so to get this movie technically for free is awesome. Another new movie that is recently available on the platform as well is Space Jam: A New Legacy. Isn't that great? I'm not sure if there will be any other movie released to the platform. We are expecting cinemas to open in October here so I think chances on any other new movie releasing on HBO GO are slim.

I haven't watch Space Jam yet but I did already watched The Conjuring 3 and I loved it! If you have access to HBO GO, go watch it and I hope you will like it too.

My Top Films for 2020

It has been a bad year for movies in 2020; only a few of them were released in cinemas, most of them had vacated their original release schedule for future dates, and some of them had been released to streaming platforms instead. It was a mess. 

I had only been able to watch 5 movies total in cinemas in 2020, and 1 movie so far in 2021 (which I am going to include in my 2020 top movies list). Because of that, I would only have 6 movies for my 2020 list! I won't be including movies that were originally scheduled to be released in cinemas but then changed to release digitally for purchase or on streaming platforms. To be honest, I don't really buy movies digitally anyway, I'll usually wait for them to be released on HBO or something.

So here are the 6 movies that I've watched ranked from bottom to the top.

6 - The Grudge

Image source: Wikipedia

It's a slow-paced movie but interestingly, I kind of like it. I'm not sure if it will be in my top 10 list if it's a normal year (without the pandemic and cinemas are open as usual) but I genuinely like this movie. It's a slow burn but in my opinion it works. Interesting cast, interesting setting, and fascinatingly still creepy for a franchise that have been around for two decades now. Andrea Riseborough really stands out for me as one of the main actor in the movie, her performance was fantastic. I don't think I've watched a lot of movies that she starred in but I was surprised to find out that she is the same actress in Oblivion, the 2013 Tom Cruise movie. Wow, her transformation for this movie is shocking, she is like a chameleon.

5 - Soul

Image source: Wikipedia

For a movie dealing with the subject of death, Soul is surprisingly a very cozy movie. From the colourful settings on Earth, the warmth atmosphere in the "Great Before" (where the unborn souls prepare for life on Earth), to the heart-warming story about enjoying life...it is a pretty cozy film to sit through. The two main characters, Joe Gardner voiced by Jamie Foxx and 22 voiced by Tina Fey, are so likeable that it helped making this movie even more interesting. Other stand out characters are the soul counselors at the "Great Before" (or should I called them the "Jerry"s since they are all named Jerry) voiced by Alice Braga and Richard Ayoade, and Terry the soul counter (or should I say the "Great Beyond" accountant) voiced by Rachel House. The story is very uplifting and I really recommended it if you haven't already watched it.

4 - Wonder Woman 1984

Image source: Wikipedia

I love this movie and interestingly the villains stand out as much as the aforementioned hero in the film's title. They are more than just supervillains crave to conquer the world; they have tragic back stories that made me empathize with them. Yes, the film lacks elaborated fight scenes that usually filled these superhero movies but it definitely doesn't make it any less enjoyable. I would say that it does have enough action scenes to get me entertained but what's important to me is the story, and it managed to get me engaged until the end of the movie. I really, really love the villains though so I hope I get to see them again in future movies (fingers crossed).

Andhaghaaram (2020 Tamil film) ~ film review

Image source from Wikipedia

One of the best thing that Malaysians get is exposure to media and entertainment from so many different countries, and this is from free-to-air TV stations no less which is easily accessible by public. Unfortunately, this film will be one that is only available in select streaming platform (read: Netflix).

[Update] The film has been aired in one of the channel on ASTRO Malaysia (sorry I can't remember which channel), so the film is available on other platforms now.

Andhaghaaram is a 2020 Tamil supernatural/thriller film which is available on Nextflix starting 24 Nov. 2020. It starred Arjun Das, Vinoth Kishan, Pooja Ramachandran, Misha Goshal, Kumar Natarajan and Jeeva Ravi.

The film follows the story of three seemingly unrelated people; a blind and poor young man struggling to maintain the mansion that he inherited from his dead parents, a de-spirited cricket coach who felt guilty after his friend suffered an unknown mental disorder after receiving a book about occult from him as a gift, and a renowned psychiatrist who woke up from coma from the result of being shot by his own patient and found out that he had lost his entire family from the same attacker, as well as losing his medical license and his voice. These three stories which are told separately eventually intertwined to reveal the horrible connection between the characters involved.

My Top 10 Movies for 2019 ~ No. 5 - No. 1

We're back with my list of 2019 top 10 films. We have covered the first half of the list in Part 1, and now let's cover the other half of the list. These are the movies at number 5 to 1.

No. 5 - The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

Image source: Wikipedia

I love this film! The story is highly entertaining, funny and the songs are super addictive. It's just a perfect movie to watch together with family or friends. The film is still as quirky as the first one, in fact I'm surprised that the film still feels fresh despite already knowing the twist that happened in the end of the first film. Hats off to the creative team for that. Another thing that is super creative is the end credits scene. It's crazy to say that but it's true! The film itself is self-aware but the end credits scene takes it to another level. It's very amusing and humorous to watch. Even though I like it a lot, sadly the film didn't fare too well at the box office, only grossing around $190 million worldwide. That's very low compared to the first film.

No. 4 - Knives Out

Image source: Knives Out official site

It's a fantastic ensemble movie; Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette and many more starred in this amazing mystery whodunit movie. I particularly like the atmosphere of the movie; it feels cozy but at the same time you can feel the tension between the characters (well, they do fight a lot but it's entertaining to watch). The movie was a success for the studio and they are planning a sequel with the enigmatic private investigator Benoit Blanc (played marvellously by Daniel Craig) investigating another mystery. I really hope they can turn this into a popular franchise because I can see a great potential in it.

My Top 10 Movies for 2019 ~ No. 10 - No. 6

I think there's a silver lining in me doing this list so late. 2020 is a really bad year for movies, lots of movies scheduled for the year had been postponed, so it's kind of nice to at least have something to talk about when it comes to movies. I still don't know what I'm going to do with my 2020 top 10 list yet but let's just think about that later. For now, let's talk about my top 10 films for 2019. I know it's beyond late, but oh well, I always late doing these lists anyway.

Let's start! This is the first part for my 2019 top 10 list, and these are the films at number 10 until 6.

No. 10 - Ejen Ali: The Movie

Image source: Wikipedia

Let's start with a local movie from Malaysia. This animated movie is about a boy who is an agent for a secret agency named MATA working to protect the city of Cyberaya. It is currently the highest-grossing Malaysian animated film as well as the highest-grossing Malaysian film of 2019. Quite an impressive achievement, don't you think? I like the film a lot. I think it is high-quality, well-made, and suitable for children and adult alike. There are certain elements of the plot that reminded me of Naruto, probably it was inspired by it or probably it was just pure coincidence, either way I don't have any issue with it, just want to point that out. I think it is a good movie with a nice combination of action and heart. There are some scenes that really can make you teary-eyed so you'd been warned. I'm not sure how aligned the Netflix are for other regions but the film is currently available in Netflix for Malaysia so maybe you can try to see if it's available in your country too.

No. 9 - IT Chapter Two

Image source: IT Chapter Two official site

This is a very good horror movie in my opinion. It has a bit of a long runtime but other than that, IT Chapter Two is quite enjoyable. The cast from young to the adult cast were really good, their acting really elevated this movie. There are some characters that I don't quite believe are the same person when comparing the young and adult version of the character but most of them are believable. It's not something that is easy to portray anyway so it's not much of an issue for me actually. As for the titular character itself, let's just say that it is "fun" to get to see It again. Bill Skarsgard who portrays It really knocks it out of the park, he's amazing in it.

My 2018 Top 10 Films ~ No. 5 - No. 1

*Note*
I've actually already drafted this earlier but forgot that I haven't finish it and only noticed that I didn't posted it yet until it's nearly the end of 2019. It's crazy to post top 10 2018 movies when 2020 is almost here. But hope you still enjoy it. Movies are timeless anyway. ;-)


Continuing on from my previous post, here are my top 10 films of 2018 - part 2. You will find my top 5 films of the year 2018 in this post. Did you missed the first 5 movies in my list? Well, you can go and click here for that.

Now, let's finish off the list.


No. 5 ~ Deadpool 2

The aforementioned character in the movie title itself is undoubtedly an awesome character, but don't ever think that that's the only good character in this movie because there are a whole bunch of them. Cable, Domino and Firefist were superb in this movie, and even the minor characters and cameos were amazing. I like the plot better than the first movie as well. I'm not sure what would happen to the film franchise after the Fox Studio acquisition by Disney but I hope they would continue with a sequel after this.

Deadpool 2 official website


No. 4 ~ Avengers: Infinity War

The highest-grossing film of 2018 and the 4th highest-grossing film of all time as of this writing. Wow, such impressive records. The film made over $2 billion at the box-office worldwide and fairs well with critics too. The fight scenes in this film are so entertaining to watch and you can't help but root for the heroes to win. Alas, the plans fall through and the heroes lost (or did they? - I'm sure everyone knows the answer to that by now). I love the cliffhanger ending too, it's not only left a different tone to the movie but I'm also sure that it left a huge impact on the movie audience.

Avengers: Infinity War official website

My 2018 Top 10 Films ~ No. 10 - No. 6

Now that I've completed the top 40 K-pop songs of 2018, it's time to move on to the films. OMG, this is long overdue! Let's go straight ahead to the chart.

Here are my top 10 films of 2018 - part 1. For this post, I will be counting down films from number 10 to 6.


No. 10 ~ Maze Runner: The Death Cure

This movie is filled with emotions. Main characters died left and right, it's just so heartbreaking to watch. It has a few nice surprises as well. I love the story and how it all tied up the trilogy nicely. While all the casts did great, I was particularly impressed with Rosa Salazar as Brenda, her character really shines in this movie compared to the previous one.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure official website


No. 9 ~ A Simple Favor

This is a funny movie, and it feels like the movie didn't even take itself seriously which makes it even more enjoyable for me. Anna Kendrick is excellent in this movie, her comedic timing is perfect and she's just very delightful to watch. Blake Lively is marvelous too and she steals every scenes she was in. There are many other good and fun characters in this movie played by a very talented group of casts (like Henry Golding from Malaysia) but Anna and Blake are the ones who did the heavy-lifting here. This is definitely their movie.

A Simple Favor official website

My 2017 Top 10 Films ~ No. 10 - No. 1

This is another post for archive purposes. Here are my 2017 top 10 films.

10 - Happy Death Day

I had such a fun time watching this at the cinema. Although the time loop concept for the film had been done several times before in movies, Happy Death Day still managed to make it fresh and exciting.


9 - Logan

A superhero movie with deep and emotional story told in a very sophisticated way. I don't think there's any better way to say goodbye to an iconic character.

2016 Films ~ My Top 10 Memorable Characters

Aside from doing a top 10 list for my favourite movie of the year, I've also decided to do a top 10 memorable characters from the movies I've watched in 2016 (as you can obviously see from the title of this post). I actually had planned to do this before for 2015 movies but I was short on time so I decided to scrap that plan.

Listing 10 movies was hard enough, now it is for characters (and there are tonnes of them!) so this is an even tougher task to accomplish. So to make my job (slightly) easier, I will only take one character per movie, so even though they are many interesting characters in one movie, I would only picked one that I personally think the best.

These characters are not necessarily have to be the main characters, it can be a small role within the film, but the characters have to make a huge impact on me, or make an impressive impression, to make it into my list.

So without further delay, here are my top 10 memorable characters from 2016 films. I hope you enjoy the list.


10. Lieutenant Commander Leonard McCoy, M.D.
Film: Star Trek Beyond
Actor: Karl Urban

I like this character, he's funny and sarcastic. Even though he might be blunt in his reaction to things, above all he's a good friend and an important crew of the USS Enterprise. There are many characters in Star Trek Beyond, old and new, but Leonard McCoy stands out from the rest with his wit and sarcasm remarks. I hope he continue to stick around in this franchise because he brings a lot of the charm into the movie as well.


9. Lunafreya Nox Fleuret
Film: Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV
Voice actor: Lena Headey

Eventhough Lunafreya only has a small role in this film, she still give quite an impact on me. I was captivated everytime she was on screen, she just has that persona and charisma about her. She's a strong-willed person and even though she may seem soft and delicate from the outside, you can tell that she has a strong heart and that she will endure every challenges that befall her. I would say that she's a very good role model and someone who you could look up to as a character.

My 2016 Top 10 Films

It's my first post for 2017! Let me start the year by counting down my top 10 favourite movies of 2016. I won't be splitting the post into two like I'm used to in previous years so all 10 movies will be listed here.

Altogether I had watched 36 movies at the cinema (I think that's a new personal record for me). It may sounds like an easy task (to pick 10 movies out of only 36) but to be honest, it is still not an easy thing to do.

So here are my 2016 top 10 movies of the year.


10. Storks

I watched quite a few animation films in 2016 and I must say, Storks is a very funny movie. I would say that the humour, especially when it comes to the characters' dialogue in the movie, are more geared towards adults. But luckily the movie also filled with cute characters and physical gags that appealed to kids (and adults!) as well. So it really is a movie for the whole family to enjoy. The two lead characters are beyond hilarious, the babies are super cute, and even the minor characters like the wolves and penguins are fun to watch. I'm sad to see that this movie is not as high-profile as some of the other top-performing animations of the year like Zootopia, Finding Dory and Secret Life of Pets. Hopefully more people will appreciate it once they discover it on the small screens.

Image from Storks official website.


9. Zootopia

Speaking of Zootopia, it is my number nine movie of the year. In my review, I mentioned that the climax of the movie was a bit underwhelming, but overall Zootopia is still a solid movie. The world that the movie is presenting is truly magnificent and the characters are truly diverse not just in terms of the species of the animals but also in their personalities. The story of overcoming hardship and not judging a person (or should I say animal) from outer appearance and stereotypes are also very commendable and encouraging for an all-ages movie. And it seems I'm not the only one who likes this movie as evident by the box-office numbers. As of this writing, Zootopia is the fifth highest-grossing animated film of all time with worldwide gross of more that $1 billion. That's impressive!

Image from Disney Malaysia official website.

What to watch? ~ 2016 movies: December

It's the last month of the year! But wait, before we put our attention to the 2017 movies, there are still some movies in December that look pretty interesting. Below are some of them that caught my attention. It's almost new year but I hope I'm not too late to share this. Check them out below.


1) Sing

Release date: Dec. 2, 2016
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Seth MacFarlane, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll, John C. Reilly

There are quite a few trailers for this movie and I must say that all of them look super entertaining, and the variety of music that were featured in those trailers definitely will help in getting people's attention to the film. It looks like the animated animal version of American Idol where the characters in the film compete in a singing competition. Singing competition is definitely popular in pop culture so I think the film hopes to capitalize on that as well. It does looks like it has a good and uplifting story of overcoming hardship, so I hope the movie will not only be fun but inspiring too.

Watch Sing trailer here.


2) La La Land

Release date: Dec. 9, 2016
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend, Rosemarie DeWitt, J. K. Simmons, Tom Everett Scott, Finn Wittrock, Meagen Fay

Here's another musical but this time it's not an animation but a live action musical film, which I must admit I don't normally watch in cinema but La La Land does intrigued me with it's fabulous trailers; the songs, the settings and the cast look amazing. The film received universal acclaim from critics and had won numerous awards with tons of nominations. It is also currently seen as a front runner for the Oscars. Quite the buzz, right? I'm considering to check this out at the cinema when it is released in my country.

Watch La La Land trailer here.

What to watch? ~ 2016 movies: November

My apologies for keep on delaying this. I have been busy with some other things in my life...and I have been lazy too! My apologies again. (T_T) Now let's just continue on, shall we? Let's look at the movies that will be released in November that I'm most excited about.


1) Doctor Strange

Release date: Nov. 4, 2016
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelsen, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins

I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie when it was first announced. I wasn't even sure if I would be interested in it. But as the movie was revealed bit by bit to the public - from casting news to concept art, images and finally the movie trailers - I find it very fascinating and now I'm super pumped to go and watch it at the cinema. I haven't seen it yet as of the writing of this post, but I've read a lot of positive feedback saying that it's a good movie so I will definitely find some time to go and watch it. Can't wait!

Watch Doctor Strange trailer here.


2) Loving

Release date: Nov. 4, 2016
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Nick Kroll, Michael Shannon, Marton Csokas, Bill Camp, Jon Bass

I'm not sure how much is this story or court case is well known in its origin country but as someone who is not from the United States, I have never been aware of this case before but that doesn't mean I'm any less enthusiastic to watch it. From what little synopsis I've read regarding this movie, it sounds like a very good and touching story. Usually this small type of movie don't really get a release date here but I can see efforts have been made to bring smaller and independent movies in my country so hopefully Loving will find its way here.

Watch Loving trailer here.


3) Arrival

Release date: Nov. 11, 2016
Cast: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Tzi Ma, Mark O'Brien

This seems to me like an intellectual movie, a movie with a story that asks us to think instead of just having fun at the cinema. I'm definitely intrigued! Based on a short story by author Ted Chiang titled "Story of Your Life", this movie seems to have not just a compelling story but also great performances from a strong group of cast. Hopefully it will reward its audiences with a satisfying watch.

Watch Arrival trailer here.

What to watch? ~ 2016 movies: September

September usually known as the "dry season" for Hollywood movies, but surprisingly there are quite a few interesting movies coming out this month. Below are the movies that seems interesting to me, check them out below and see if you would like them as well.


1) The Light Between Oceans

Release date: Sept. 2, 2016
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz, Florence Clery, Bryan Brown

Most of the time people will spend money at the cinemas to watch movies that have a lot of special effects but sometimes I think it's good to watch some good drama on the big screen too. The Light Between Oceans seems like a movie with a good drama in it and it has a great cast too. The movie is based on a novel which had received great reviews so hopefully the movie will get positive reviews as well.

Watch The Light Between Oceans trailer here.


2) Morgan

Release date: Sept. 2, 2016
Cast: Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Rose Leslie, Toby Jones, Michelle Yeoh, Boyd Holbrook, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Giamatti

Morgan is a science fiction and horror movie, an interesting combination if you asked me. The trailer focused a lot on the mystery of this "Morgan" character, and I have to say it got me curious as well. While I am excited to watch this movie, it seems not a lot of people are because it did quite poorly on its opening weekend. I want to find out who or what exactly is Morgan, so I think I will still watch this movie at the cinema.

Watch Morgan trailer here!

What to watch? ~ 2016 movies: July

Sorry for posting this late! I usually post this earlier in the month but I was busy with something else so the post for this month got delayed. Anyway, without further delay, let's look at some of the interesting movies coming out in July that caught my attention.


1) The Legend of Tarzan

Release date: July 1, 2016
Cast: Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson, Djimon Hounsou, Christoph Waltz, Casper Crump, Jim Broadbent

This looks like a cool movie. The Tarzan adaptation that I am most familiar with is from the 1999's animated film from Disney so I'm excited to see a different take of the story albeit a darker one. The cast looks good but more important is the action sequence which looks to be quite impressive from the trailer. Critics gave mixed reviews for the film but it opened with quite solid numbers on its opening weekend in North America. Unfortunately the budget for the film is quite high so it still got a long way to go to recoup its budget. Hopefully the movie have legs.

Watch The Legend of Tarzan trailer here!


2) The Purge: Election Year

Release date: July 1, 2016
Cast: Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mykelti Williamson, Joseph Julian Soria, Terry Serpico, Betty Gabriel, Kyle Secor, Edwin Hodge, Liza Colon-Zayas

I love this franchise. The premise is creepy but I think it has a good moral story behind it. I actually like the first movie more than the second one, so hopefully I will like this third entry in the franchise more than the second movie. This movie had performed well at the box office since its release and had made quite a sum of money against its small budget. Is it possible that we will see a fourth entry in the franchise?

Watch The Purge: Election Year trailer here!

What to watch? ~ 2016 movies: June

How many movies have you watched in 2016 so far? There are many great movies that had been released this year but we have only reached June and there are many more interesting new movies to come. Let's see what are some of the movies that will be released in June 2016 that caught my attention. Hopefully they seem interesting to you too.


1) Me Before You

Release date: June 3, 2016
Cast: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Janet McTeer, Brendan Coyle, Charles Dance, Jenna Coleman, Matthew Lewis

I sometimes like to watch a good love story but to be honest I usually prefer to watch them on TV at the privacy of my home. But this film looks interesting to me, and apart from that I also love the main duo who are playing the leads here, Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin. I was surprised to find out that the film had received backlash from many people though, I didn't know it would contain so many bad and negative views on disabled people (at least that's what the people that had issue with the film claimed). I will reserve my judgement until I see the movie and hopefully I will have a positive view on it.

Watch Me Before You trailer here!


2) The Conjuring 2

Release date: June 10, 2016
Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Madison Wolfe, Frances O'Connor, Simon McBurney, Lauren Esposito, Franka Potente, Sterling Jerins, Patrick McAuley, Benjamin Haigh, Shannon Kook

I love The Conjuring so I would definitely want to watch this sequel at the cinema, although I was actually quite surprised that they even do a sequel for this movie. Yes, the first movie was very successful and making a sequel is like a no-brainer for the studio to make more money but I don't see the first movie as a franchise-starter so I didn't expect the studio to turn it into a franchise. Nevertheless, if there's more interesting supernatural cases to be told from the paranormal investigators files, then why not make more movies, right? The sequel would be focusing on the Enfield Poltergeist case file which is quite popular then (and still now among fans of paranormal activity I think).

Watch The Conjuring 2 trailer here!

Ranking the superheroes in Captain America: Civil War film

I've finally watched Marvel's Captain America: Civil War and it was a fun experience. Instead of a regular movie review I've decided to do a ranking of all the superheroes/enhanced humans that were featured in the film like I did with the movies The Avengers and its follow-up, Avengers: Age of Ultron. After all, this movie does feel like an Avengers movie with so many characters involved.

This list will only featured the 12 characters from each side of the teams, team Captain America and team Iron Man, so villain like Crossbones and awesome supporting character like Sharon Carter would not be in this list. I might exposed some plot points too so please be aware that this post might contain spoilers for the movie.

Now let's move on with the chart. We start from the bottom and make our way to the top of my list, let's begin!


12) Vision (Paul Bettany)

I think Vision is a very unique character but he didn't really featured a lot in this film, so that is why he is at the bottom of my list. To be honest, I think he is quite powerful, in fact he might be too powerful that the other characters might not stand a chance if the filmmakers decided to fully utilize him in this film. Anyway, I hope the studio will continue to explore the character in the upcoming Marvel movies. He is a very interesting character after all.


11) James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle)

What happened to James Rhodes near the end of the movie is very tragic, but I didn't really feel connected with the character so I placed him near the bottom of my list. But I think it is important to note that he was quite crucial in relation to Tony Stark's character development. I guess he will not be featured much anymore in the future films considering what happened to him but you'll never know because when it comes to comic book movies, anything is possible.


10) Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner)

Here's another character that was not much involved but since I already love him from the Avengers movies, he managed to make quite an impression on me even with so little screen time the character had in this film. I especially love the scene in the middle-of-ocean prison where Clint Barton was locked up and the banter he had with Tony Stark there. He is a great character, one I really like so much, so I hope he will continue to be featured in the Marvel movies.

What to watch? ~ 2016 movies: May

May is here, which means you better get ready for a slew of blockbuster movies coming your way. Now we already have big movies opened in early of the year (like Deadpool, Zootopia and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) but May is still the opening month of the summer blockbuster season, which means more big movies to burn our pockets. Below are some of the movies that are opening in May that caught my eyes. Which of these do you find interesting?


1) Captain America: Civil War

Release date: May 6, 2016 (28 April 2016 for Malaysia)
Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Chadwick Boseman, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Paul Rudd, Don Cheadle, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland

Another superhero showdown movie of the year, and this time it's not just one versus another but one team battling another team, which makes it even more intense. Movies under the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been doing pretty well so it won't be a surprise if Captain America: Civil War would be a huge money-maker at the box-office too. Besides, Captain America: The Winter Soldier was highly praised and since this movie is being held by the same directors, Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, the odds are certainly in its favour.

Watch Captain America: Civil War trailer here!


2) Money Monster

Release date: May 13, 2016
Cast: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O'Connell, Dominic West, Christopher Denham, Caitriona Balfe, Giancarlo Esposito, Emily Meade

I almost missed this movie from my radar. Luckily I clicked on the movie trailer one day, just out of curiosity, and I find the topic that was presented in this movie quite interesting. People are always talking about inequality in wealth and how the rich seems to always become richer while the poor becomes poorer, and I feel the situation explored in this movie could be one of the tipping point of such conflict. Of course the movie won't solve the problem but I think at least it could be something for audiences to think about. Money Monster is directed by Jodie Foster and also co-produced by George Clooney.

Watch Money Monster trailer here!

Before I Wake ~ movie review

Before I Wake is a movie directed by Mike Flanagan, the mastermind behind 2013's Oculus, and starred Jacob Tremblay, Kate Bosworth, Thomas Jane, Annabeth Gish, Justin Gordon and Dash Mihok. As someone who adores Oculus, I was super excited to watch this because I wanted to see what the man behind this movie has more to offer. Mike Flanagan not only directed it but also co-wrote this movie with Jeff Howard. After struggling to secure a release date after it's distributor, Relativity Media, filed for bankruptcy, Before I Wake was finally released in Malaysia (although I'm not sure if it is under the same distributor for release outside of United States).

This is my review of Before I Wake. It will not contain spoilers (at least not any major ones) so feel free to continue on reading my thoughts on this movie.