Shayne Ward ~ Breathless

I know this album has already been out for awhile now, but it's never too late to review a nice pop album right.

Breathless is Shayne Ward 2nd album. It's a nice pop album so if you're not really into pop, you better steer away from this one. It contains 13 tracks including the singles If That's OK with You, No U Hang Up and Breathless.

I was kinda impressed when I heard and saw the video for If That's OK with You (he dance!) but the song that made me bought this album is Breathless. I was so amazed with that song, I decided I have to own this album without even thinking that maybe the other tracks will suck.
Lucky for me, I like pop songs and this album is kinda nice. Some of my favourite tracks are Breathless (of course!), If That's OK with You, Stand by Your Side, Melt the Snow and Tell Him.

At first spin, the songs sound kinda similar to each other, except for Melt the Snow and Tell Him which I think are brilliant songs. But on 2nd spin and onwards, you will enjoy more of each tracks as you get familiar with them.

So, we will see if he can make a better album next time. If he can, then surely I will rush to the music store to get them.

WANTED! Hot assassins!

Wanted and Wall E will open in cinemas this weekend. Well, actually that is for the US release. Wall E will premiere here in Malaysia a little bit late, in July I think, but fortunately Wanted will be released the same week in Malaysia as in the US. Thank God. Not so sure about the other Asian countries.

Wanted starring the hot and sexy Angelina Jolie and our 'Mr. Tumnus', James McAvoy is based on a comic book with the same name by Mark Millar. I didn't know there was a comic. Well, never mind that. It tells a story about a regular guy who was trained to become an assassin by another (hot) assassin to get revenge for his father's murder, who was also an assassin. A lot of assassins there. So expect to see mind-blowing stunts and actions in this movie. Based on the trailer, it's sure gonna be a fun ride. Other casts include Morgan Freeman, Thomas Kretschmann and Konstantin Khabensky.

Oh, by the way, I watched The Incredible Hulk last Wednesday night. It was a fun movie. I will post a review about it next week okay.

Thanx Yahoo! for the poster. ;-)

A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story

Last week, I saw this amazing and sad film about a young man who was murdered because he's a transgender. From what I read in the internet, the made-for-TV film premiered in the US in 2006. Maybe it just reach this part of the world in 2008. I don't remember on which channel I watched it. Maybe HBO (Channel 411 Astro Malaysia) or Star Movies (Channel 413 Astro Malaysia).

The film tells the story of Gwen Araujo (born Edward Araujo), a transgender who was murdered after his acquaintances discovered that he has male genitalia. He had been living as a female so most of his acquaintances didn't know he was actually a male. When some of them found out, they killed him. I'm not sure whether they killed him because of discrimination and hate (as in hate crime) or because of gay panic (as what the defendants claimed).

I'm not so sure what a gay panic defense is that the defendants had been using in the trials so I've checked Wiki for the meaning. Apparently, gay panic defense is when a defendant claims that they have been the object of romantic or sexual advances by the victim, and the propositions so offensive and frightening that it brought on a psychotic state characterized by unusual violence.

Okay, so I understand they were shocked when they found out but to murder the person??? C'mon, that is just cruel. I mean, a punch or a slap is different, but Gwen had been reported to be beaten for 5 hours! That was not 'shocked', that was 'hate'. But of course that is from my point of view. The jury apparently didn't think so since none of them had been committed with hate crime.

Anyway, it's a very touching and sad story. If you ever stumbled upon this film, please watch it. It's really good.

Top animated movies

Yahoo! give us the top 30 animation movies from their users reviews today.

Here are the top 5:

1- Finding Nemo
2- Kung Fu Panda
3- The Incredibles
4- Spirited Away
5- The Lion King

Finding Nemo tops the chart, no surprise there. It is one of my fave movies. Surprisingly Kung Fu Panda landed at no. 2 despite just been screened early in June this year. It must have got a lot of positive reviews. The Incredibles is just great, so no argue there.

Spirited Away at no. 4. Wow, I was surprised. I didn't think Japanese anime could ended up so high in the chart. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE anime! I didn't watch Spirited Away though. But I did watched Princess Mononoke and what a superb anime it was. So I bet Spirited Away is just as good too. And at no. 5 is The Lion King which is one of the best drawn animation I had ever watched. Actually, I like 2D animation. Sadly there didn't make much anymore. Kids these days aren't into 2D. Well, maybe except for anime.

Yuusuke Vs Suzaku

Finally, I had finished reading YuYu Hakusho Vol. 5.

If in Vol. 4, we see Kurama Vs Genbu, the rock-like creature, then in this volume we get to see the battles of the rest of the team members.

First to fight was Kuwabara. His opponent is Byakko, a devil resembles a giant tiger. It sure hard for Kuwabara to defeat him. Next, Hiei Vs Seiryu. This is the shortest battle in this volume, proving that you don't mess with Hiei. The last battle would be Yuusuke Vs Suzaku, the evil leader. He was a snake, sending his evil army to kill Keiko and broadcast the events to crush Yuusuke's spirit. Dirty play. However, Yuusuke being the hero (and so cannot be killed easily) defeated him although with much struggle and nearly killed.

Ah...now I can't wait for the Dark Tournament to start. I've already bought Vol. 6 and Vol. 7. Now, if only I can find some strength to finish reading them.

The Happening ~ review

I went to watch The Happening last weekend. Here's what I think about the movie (beware: spoilers ahead!).

I like the concept and the story. The idea is truly original and kinda creepy. The plants are releasing some kind of chemical to mess up our brains and this lead to humans becoming delusional and suicidal (!). It looks like the plants are angry with us humans for destroying Earth. Well, if I were the plant, I would be angry too.

Mark Wahlberg played a kind-and-loving science teacher, Elliot Moore, while Zooey Deschanel played his wife, Alma. I was kinda surprise to see Mark in that type of character. He usually play the tough guy, but here, he's very gentle and lovable, and I like it a lot!

The characters development in this movie are not strong but you can still see their different personalities. Elliot is sweet, clever, resilient and kinda naive. While Alma is kinda rebellious (in not-so-obvious kinda way) and still trying to adapt to her marriage, but she still a caring person.

The couple, together with Elliot's best friend, Julian (John Leguizamo), and his daughter, Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez), evacuate their small town in order to survive this horror. They face a lot of obstacles and dangerous situations. With Elliot quick thinking and knowledge in science, they manage to survive (well, at least for Elliot, Alma and Jess).

I love this movie a lot. It's like a wake-up call for us human to stop polluting the Earth. I also like the acting, especially by the 3 main actors (Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and Ashlyn Sanchez) although I wish their characteristics could be developed more. Oh, and not forgetting the soundtrack composed by James Newton Howard. LOVE IT!!!

So, I recommend you guys to watch this movie. But don't expect to see a horror movie, because it's not. Besides, you'll be disappointed if you think that way. It's just a drama with a great story. Bear that in mind while you entering the cinema hall and you might enjoy this movie a whole lot more.

PS: Thanx Yahoo! for the pics!

From Madagascar to Africa

So, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa will be in cinemas end of this year. I don't know what to expect. I didn't watch the trailer but my sisters did and they said it was funny. I guess it should be good.

The ones that made me laugh really hard in this movie are the psychotic penguins. They are really fun to watch at. I'm glad they're back for this movie.

Anyway, if you watch Kung Fu Panda, you'll be able to watch the trailer for this movie. The same cast return to lend their voice for this movie such as Ben Stiller (Alex the lion), Chris Rock (Marty the zebra), Jada Pinkett-Smith (Gloria the hyppo) and David Schwimmer (Melman the giraffe).

You can get the full info and also watch the trailer at the Yahoo! Movie page for this movie. Just click here to go there. Or you can just visit DreamWorks website to learn more about these crazy animals.

CSI New York Season 4

Did you guys catch the premiere of CSI: New York season 4 last week on AXN (channel 701 Astro Malaysia)??? If you missed it, you better check it back 'coz it was so awesome!

The first episode, tittled 'Can You Hear Me Now?', brings the CSI team (and us) to the unsolved case of a young concert pianist, Marie Casimira. I'm not sure if there was an episode on this case before 'coz I missed quite a lot of episodes from the previous seasons. But it didn't matter, you won't get confuse since this episode can be considered a stand-alone episode.

The murders were quite gruesome but that's what makes CSI:NY so interesting. I didn't sound like a lunatic killer right? Anyway, it was also revealed that Mac has been harassed by mysterious phone calls that happens precisely at 3:33 a.m. Creepy!

The 2nd episode airs tonight at 9 p.m. So don't forget to get your lab kits and watch CSI:NY tonight okay. It's going to be great!

Veoh blocked

What a disappointment. I love to watch videos on Veoh, and now I just found out that the site has been blocked in Malaysia. Anyone know the reason???

So sad. :'-(

Happy Father's Day!!!

So, what's your plan for Father's Day? It's this Sunday, don't tell me you forgot.

I think I want to take my dad for a special dinner, like I did with my mom for Mother's Day. I think I wanna try to take him to a seafood restaurant. I think he'll like that. Or maybe I'll treat him western food. He'll like that too. Or maybe a Thai restaurant. My dad likes spicy food.

I'm not sure yet where I will take him but I'm hoping that he will love it. I already bought him Dunhill perfume for his birthday, so that's why I'm not buying him gift this Father's Day. A nice dinner with my father should be good.

So, what's your plan?

P/s: Thanx 123Greetings for the lovely e-card.

Happening Vs Hulk

Phew...finally I have some free time to post something.

So this weekend we will see which one of these movies, The Happening and The Incredible Hulk, that will top the box-office chart. I think it will be a close match since both of the movies seem interesting with rave promotional all over the world. People will get confuse on which one they would want to watch. I know I want to watch both of them.

The trailer for Hulk have been on Malaysian TV for quite some time now (I think), and trailer for Happening just recently been heavily promoted on TV. Both movies seem to draw a lot of attention but I think people in Asia (and Malaysia to be specific) are more curious about Happening. Well, M. Night Shyamalan's movies always draw attention here. So my guess is Happening will top the box-office chart here in Malaysia. Not so sure about US box-office though.

With all the Hollywood movies, I hope we are not forgetting our local movies and also those from the region. Missing, starring Angelica Lee Sinje (yes, the Malaysian-born actress from the original The Eyes movie) will also open in cinemas this weekend, as well as the Tamil movie, Dasavatharam. Apa Kata Hati, the malay local movie directed by Saw Teong Hin, is still playing in the cinemas.

I have here the trailer for The Incredible Hulk (sorry, no The Happening trailer). I hope you guys enjoy it.

Thanx Yahoo! and Cinemablend for the movie posters.

Have a nice weekend. I'm going to the beach. Haha! Enjoy the clip!!!

Busy! Busy! Busy!

I'm so sorry guys. I've been kinda busy lately with my work. So I'm not going to be able to post as mush as I want to. So expect to see fewer posts this month than last month. However, I will try my best to keep on posting.

You guys take care.

The zombies return!

It's been a while since I last wrote about games. Well, I'm not playing much, and I'm not buying game magazines so it's quite hard for me to get news about new games. But I try my best to keep myself up-to-date, especially when it comes to popular games like Resident Evil which is in my favourite list.

So, the newest installment from the franchise that will come out soon to haunt us is Resident Evil 5. Chris Redfield from the first Resident Evil game, only hotter this time, is back to save us from the zombies. It is also reported that Sherry Birkin from Resident Evil 2 (the little girl who met Claire Redfield in RE2) will also make a comeback along with the all-time antagonist Albert Wesker.

The game takes place in an unnamed African country and the story will revolves around the origin of the virus as well as the whereabouts of STARS and Redfield's life after the first RE game. Mmm...sounds interesting. I want to know where he's been, he has been absent in the game series for too long now.

No confirmation yet on when the game will be released but it is expected to be out before the end of the current fiscal year which is March 31, 2009.

Here's the trailer of RE5. Clearly the game had evolved since we first introduced to it. The graphic looks amazing and Chris Redfield looks super-hot!!! Apparently, there's already a new trailer out with depiction of an unknown female character assisting Redfield, but I only have the old trailer. So I hope you guys still enjoy it.

Animals with martial arts

Kung Fu Panda, an animation movie from DreamWorks will open in cinemas this week. It features the voice casts of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Angelina Jolie and many more.

I don't know what else to say about this movie. I'm not so excited about it. I'm more eager to see Wall E. Can't wait for that. But I guess this movie is fun too, since it's from DreamWorks who brought us Shrek. But I'm not a Shrek fan. Guess that's why I'm not so excited about this movie.

Anyway, just ignore my comments and go watch this movie if you are a fan. Judging from the trailer, it looks kinda funny and the visuals look good. And the panda looks kinda cute too. Maybe I'll watch this movie with my little sisters. They'll probably want to watch it.

Here's the trailer to the movie. Thanx Yahoo! for the poster.

Superhero Movie ~ review

I went to watch Superhero Movie over the weekend with my relatives. I initially want to watch other flick but due to some circumstances, we end up buying tickets to this movie.

At first, I wasn't very excited to go in the cinema hall to watch this movie. I was reminded to Epic Movie which I watched on TV several days ago and remembered how bad it was. Fortunate for me, Superhero didn't involve the writers from Epic. And Superhero was good. Very good. In fact, I personally think it is the best movie in this genre that I had watched so far. This is because the casts are good, the plot flows smoothly and the jokes didn't get over the top, which is good.

The main character is Rick Riker played by Drake Bell. He was funny and certainly makes his character likable. Sara Paxton plays his love crush, Jill Johnson. I didn't expect her to be in this kind of movie, but I think she did well with her character too. Other casts that worth noticing for their roles are Leslie Nielsen as Uncle Albert (he was so funny even if he didn't play the US President), Marion Ross as Aunt Lucille, and Regina Hall as Mrs. Xavier (she only had cameo role and only appear for several minutes but it was still worth it, she's hilarious!!! I wish Anna Faris makes a cameo appearance too). Christopher McDonald played the villain, Hourglass, who seeks for immortality.

Pamela Anderson also had a cameo role as Invisible Woman while Tom Cruise character played by Miles Fisher is also worth noticing. There are also Human Torch (played by Simon Rex) and Wolverine (played by Craig Bierko) who both appear as cameo roles too.

Overall, this is a good movie. I like it, personally, and I think it is wwwaaaayyyyyyyyy better than Epic. However, caution to parents and those who have little brothers or sisters. This movie may have been rated U (for all ages) but it's really not a movie for kids. There are many sexual references in the jokes and you might have a hard time explaining to the children. So, just avoid this movie if you bring kids along.

So, with kids aside, if you get bored of watching serious movies, go catch Superhero Movie in cinemas. It will certainly make your day.

Break the ice, Britney!

Okay, here's a quick post. No pics, no video, nothing. Just thoughts.

Being a huge fan of Britney Spears, I can't help but noticed all the buzz surrounding Britney. I just skipped the negative ones and head-on straight to the good news.

Britney is currently working on her next album!!! Yay!!! I'm so excited to see what kind of music will she bring, I heard she's been experimenting a lot for this new album. Can't wait! And there are also fans who's been urging her to release Toy Soldier as her new single. Some fans want Radar as the next single. Well, pretty good idea. She do need a new single since "To Be Continued" popped up in the end of her Break The Ice video. Oh, speaking of which, I LOVE Break The Ice! It's her best single ever!!! (beside Born To Make You Happy of course which is my personal favourite).

For those who couldn't get enough of her, check out these sites...Britney and BritneyFans. Tons and tons of news, photos, videos, comments and ideas. Just click on it to go there.

Next stop: Heart Station

OMG, I’m so in love with this album! Utada Hikaru’s Heart Station is really an awesome and solid album. Her fans will be delighted and I’m pretty sure people who don’t like her songs before would feel the same.

There are 13 tracks in this album including one interlude. Here is the list of the songs;

1. Fight The Blues
2. HEART STATION
3. Beautiful World
4. Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-
5. Stay Gold
6. Kiss & Cry
7. Gentle Beast Interlude
8. Celebrate
9. Prisoner Of Love
10. Take 5
11. Boku wa Kuma
12. Niji-iro Bus

-Bonus Track-
13. Flavor Of Life

I bought it for only RM39.90. I thought it was quite cheap compared to her previous album which cost me nearly RM50. And then I realized this CD was made in Malaysia. No wonder it’s cheap. Her Ultra Blue album was made in Taiwan.

I can honestly say that there is not a single bad song in this album. I like them all! And of course I have my favorites like Heart Station (so addictive!), Beautiful World, Prisoner Of Love and Take 5.

As you can see, the album cover is simple so don’t expect much of the booklet too. All the pics in it are simple but nice. All the lyrics of the songs are in it too but I cannot read them since they were not written in romaji. If only I can read Japanese characters…. :-(

Here’s the MV for her song Heart Station. If you enjoy it, go buy her CD afterwards okay.

Thanx to Candy for the album cover.