The Amazing Race Asia 4 and The Amazing Race 17 winners!

Richard (Hardin) & Richard (Herrera)

I think it's not too late for me to congratulate the winners of The Amazing Race Asia 4 and The Amazing Race 17 winners. Congratulations to Richard (Hardin) & Richard (Herrera) for winning TARA 4 and the amazing doctors Nat & Kat for winning The Amazing Race 17. Both teams have great positive attitudes and I'm glad to see them win.

Claire & Michelle (2nd place!)


Natasha & Hussein (3rd place!)

I would also like to congratulate Claire & Michelle and Natasha & Hussein from TARA4 for making it to the finish line. It was a tough race and they did pretty well despite all the setbacks. It was definitely a fun season and I hope we won't have to wait as long as we had before for another season of TARA. I don't have much to say about TAR 17 because I missed a few episodes of the show but from what I saw, Brook & Claire and Jill & Thomas who came in 2nd and 3rd in the race were good too. So I guess bravo to all of them!

Images courtesy of TARA website.

The Amazing Race Asia 4 ~ Goodbye Jess & Lani

It looks like getting extremely lost is a sure bet to get eliminated from the race. Dimple & Sunaina experienced it in Australia, and now the party girls from The Philippines, Jess & Lani experienced it in South Korea. It was an exciting episode, especially since South Korea is a beautiful country.

It was also an episode where the race started to 'force' the teams to hate each other. That was one part of the episode that I didn't like. It was unnecessary. I mean, it's okay for them to hate each other (for whatever reason), but the show didn't have to push it out from them. It kind of sad. Oh well, it's reality TV.

Aside from Hussein & Natasha, I think Jess & Lani is the team that shown most improvement in the race. Look where they started and look where they ended their race; 4th place. I applauded them for that. Beside that, I also like Jess attitude and personality. She seems like a nice person and she's very sensitive towards animals (sheeps anyone?) and other people's feelings. It's funny how I can see her like that because Lani seems more emotional than her. I may be wrong but with all that editing (of the show), that's how I see them.

Anyway, 2 more episodes and we know who the winning team would be. Great! Can't wait for that! May the best team wins!!!

The Amazing Race Season 4 ~ The journey so far

I completely love this season of TARA (well, I always do actually just like past seasons), and seeing the teams got eliminated one by one got me sad but somehow it also got me excited as we get closer in revealing the winner of this season.



I only posted about the 1st team eliminated from the race in my blog before, so here I'm gonna post about the rest of the teams that had been eliminated so far. First off was the 2nd team who got eliminated, in Sri Lanka, which is Alan & Wendy. Aside from constant bickering, this team just plain unlucky; they did got on the 1st bus to go to a designated place for a task, but unfortunately they were the last to arrive. That just proved that luck plays an important role in the race.



The 3rd team got eliminated was Manas & Sahil. Booted off in the Philippines, this team just...I don't know...seemed to lost their will to race. They looked tired. Maybe the race had taken a toll on them, I mean the race was pretty intense.



Next to went off the race was Ivan & Hilda. I kind of like this team, they were very entertaining. To see them packing in New Zealand was quite sad for me, since they are also Malaysian like me. I like Ivan spirit, competitiveness and over-much love for his wife. Some might labeled them as annoying (poor Hilda) but I think they just a loving, harmless couple. Very cute. ;-)



Sunaina & Dimple, the 5th to get booted off the race, was eliminated in Australia. I see them as a smart, independent, strong and very competitive team. They always try to be at the front of the pack. Unfortunately they got lost, really really lost, and this lead to their downfall in Australia.



The latest team who got eliminated from the race in this week episode of TARA was Ethan & Khairie. It was kind of shocking for me because I really see them as one of the strong team who got potential to get to the top 3. They made a bad choice in Detour, and couldn't bounce back ever since. I was quite sad to see them leave not just because they are Malaysian but also because they are one of my top 3 favourite teams. They were eliminated in Indonesia.

And now they are 4 teams left. I'm glad 2 of my favourite teams are still in the race, hopefully they will be in the top 3 as well. It has been a fun, exciting and entertaining race so far. Lucky for us fans there are more to come. May the best team wins!!!


Images courtesy of AXN.

Sucker Punch looks awesome!

I must say, I really admire Zack Snyder. He can come up with really visually-stunning movies. His next movie would be Sucker Punch, an action oriented film with heavy dose of fantasy (as what I can assume judging from its awesome trailer).

Sucker Punch would be out in March of 2011 and feature an ensemble female cast. Emily Browning will be in it. I love her in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunaye Events and The Uninvited. She got the looks and she got the talent. I think she's going to be awesome in the movie. Other casts include Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone (love her in The Ruins), Vanessa Hudgens (please don't tell me you don't know who she is) and Jamie Chung (the sexy babe from Dragonball Evolution and Sorority Row).

You can check out IGN for the trailer. You can also click here to go to the official site.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Red ~ review

This movie starred Bruce Willis. That's all I know about Red when I went to see it with one of my best friend. Knowing nothing else, I expected nothing from this movie. And I was treated with a joyful, action-packed and humorous movie.

Red starred Bruce Willis alongside Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, Karl Urban and Brian Cox. It was loosely based on comic books by DC Comics. The movie started off rather smoothly, quiet and peaceful as the two characters chatted along and reading romance novels. But as soon as the action start, it never ends. The action sequences were sometimes a bit over-dramatic but never over-the-top like A-Team or something like that. And I prefer it that way. The characters are the best thing about Red, they are agile (even though they retired), resourceful, tough, and funny. The chemistry between characters are great too. Helen Mirren look extremely believable firing guns in a dress. That lady rocks!


The plot were nothing to shout about, but the decent story together with great acting, a bit of romance and funny lines really brings this movie up of my favourite-movie list. And the plot is easy to follow too. Therefore I think Red can really appeal to not just males but females as well because off all the mix it has in the plot.

As a conclusion, Red is a fun movie to watch. It brings a lot of laugh and have a good amount of action to keep you excited throughout the movie. With amazing casts and well-balanced plot, I give Red 3 1/2 stars out of 5.


Images courtesy of Wikipedia and Yahoo!.

The X Factor - Matt Cardle

OMG, I love this version of ...Baby One More Time. And I really like this guy's voice. He's amazing. Matt Cardle is one of the finalist for The X Factor seventh season. Thanks Rickey for posting this. Click here to watch the clip. Enjoy!

Watch out for Skyline

I always love a good alien movie. If last year we have the terrific District 9, hopefully this year we can have a good alien movie with Skyline. I know it's too soon to tell, but so far the trailer looks good. You can check out the trailer in YouTube or just click here to go there. The trailer looks awesome! Skyline is set for release in theaters on November 12, 2010. Can't wait!

Hot music!

Here are some of the songs that I'm listening to (and crazy about) now. Just want to share it with the rest of the world.

Kylie Minogue - Get Outta My Way

This song is awesome! Another great song from Kylie Minogue. The video for the song is not as energetic as I would like it to be, but I love it so much anyway!

Ke$ha - Take It Off

So far, I like all of Ke$ha's songs, and this one definitely one of the best. I like the colour dust concept she used in her video for this song, it really makes it beautiful despite the raunchy lyrics she used in the song.

Travie McCoy - Need You

This is a song that I would never expect from Travie McCoy. It's more pop than anything that I'd heard from him before. Nevertheless, it's an addictive song, like so many other songs from him.

BoA - Hurricane Venus

She changed her style (again!) for her new Korean album. I love the song although I think it's not as good as her previous Korean singles. Still love BoA though.

Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

Oh my, Teenage Dream is a great pop song, I LOVE IT!!! I'm not really into her 1st single so this one was quite a surprise for me when I first listened to it.

Nelly - Just A Dream

Nelly is one of my favourite hip hop artist. I like his voice and this song is definitely one of his best (in my opinion at least).

2NE1 - Clap Your Hands

Yay, new song from K-pop girl group 2NE1!!! One of three promotional songs for their 1st full-length album, this song is catchy and hip, and my favourite from the three songs. The music video is awesome too. They are definitely the most stylish group from Korea, great job 2NE1!

Nadine & Yani are out from TARA 4

Yes, the lovable and dramatic duo Nadine & Yani is the 1st team to be eliminated from The Amazing Race Asia season 4. I was kind of sad to see them leave as they add quite a drama to the season. They work well together, unfortunately not well enough to avoid elimination.

I was beginning to warm up to the teams for this season after watching episode 2, and to be frank, they are all very entertaining. All of them have their own strengths and weaknesses. The Malaysian teams (Ivan/Hilda and Ethan/Khairie) did pretty well thus far and the Singaporean girls (Claire/Michelle) and the Indian teams (Dimple/Sunaina and Manas/Sahil) were pretty good too. But the team to watch this season, in my opinion, is the Philippines boys (Rich/Rich). They argue a bit here and there, they got lost easily, but they still manage to come in 2nd place for both 1st and 2nd leg of the race. If they keep up the momentum, they could win the race.

I do have a bit of a problem though about this season of TARA, I can't remember the contestant's names! I have to search the internet every time I want to type their names. The only teams that I remember are Ivan/Hilda and Rich/Rich (the latter team is easy right?). I don't think I have much of a problem in last season. Either their names are hard to remember or I am getting old. I'm not that old right? Right?

Anyways, it's a great season so far and hopefully things will get more and more exciting.

TARA 4...coming really soon!!!

Here something to post about.

The Amazing Race Asia Season 4 is coming!!! It will premiere on 23 Sept. 2010 on AXN Asia at 9pm for Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia and India; 10pm for Hong Kong; and 11pm for Taiwan and Korea.

The racers had been revealed a week back and as usual, they took a couple of local celebrities for this season (they always does!). So far, the teams that I'm quite interested in are Claire/Michelle from Singapore, Nadine/Hilyani from Indonesia and Richard/Richard from Philippines. I wonder if they will go far in the competition. Overall, this season have 2 teams from India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines each, 1 team from Singapore and 1 team from Hong Kong.

By the way, you can watch the premiere episode for this season on their website starting today! Click here to go to the webpage. May the best team wins!

Tekken...hopefully not too late

Tekken the movie is already out in theaters in Malaysia, I think already in its 2nd or 3rd week. I'm planning to watch it next week but sadly, during my recent trip to the mall, I saw that the screen time for the movie had already being reduced to two showings. How sad! I've been waiting for this movie and knowing that it's not as popular as the other movies showing in theaters now makes me kind of sad. Is it not good?

Hopefully I'm not too late to watch it.

Busy with life

I was and currently am busy with my life, especially because of my new job, that make me away from the web and thus, less and less posts for my blog. Hopefully things will turn around and I could blog more in the future.

But aside from that, I do take my time doing things I love like playing my precious PS2 but unfortunately my Fatal Frame disc got stuck when I'm in Night 4 (the final chapter I think).
Sigh ~ before this was my Final Fantasy XII disc, and now Fatal Frame. Just my luck. I think I'd just start with Silent Hill 3 after this.

The beautiful Butterfly Cloud

I do not read as much shōjo manga as I would like to because of several personal reasons but I can point out one of the mangaka of this genre that I like, and that is Ashihara Hinako. Although her drawings are somewhat similar to other shōjo mangaka, her stories however really stood out the most. And the way she complements her drawings with the emotions of the story are really what caught me the most. One of her manga that show this skills is Awan Kupu-Kupu (translated in English as Butterfly Cloud).

Awan Kupu-Kupu, or in Japanese is called Chouchou Kumo, is a love story between four childhood friends. Complications and conflicts occur when a friend loves the other one, and another one got jealous, and another one trying to fix things up. Accidents happens and they start breaking apart. Heartbreak is a must but what's more important is to let things go. It's confusing I know, but that's what one look forward to in a love story. Besides, I'm not going to spoil the story for you. Set on an island, the story revolves around the four friends during their childhood up to their teenage years. Once you read the manga, you will feel the emotions straight from the pages, and that's what I love about Ashihara Hinako's manga, you can always 'feel' her stories.

Aside from the main story, there are 3 more short stories that come together with this manga, each with new protagonists and new conflicts. While the short stories are not up to par with Buttefly Cloud, but they are still enjoyable and worth to spend time with.

Overall, Awan Kupu-Kupu is a fun read and a must have for those who love shōjo manga, and also for those who are a fan of Ashihara Hinako's work.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows trailer

A must watch movie. Enough said.

Click here or here or here or here for the trailer.

Enjoy!

Japanese Film Festival in Gurney Plaza, Penang

Just what I stated on the title, the Japanese Film Festival will be held in Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) in Gurney Plaza, Penang, Malaysia starting today, 25 June 2010 until Sunday, 27 June 2010. You can check out the list of films and the time of screening by clicking here. It had already being held in GSC Mid Valley and GSC 1 Utama (in Klang Valley, Malaysia) from 17-21 June 2010.

Another Silent Hill video game!!!

Wow, I'm loving this. They just keeps coming and coming.

A new trailer from a new Silent Hill video game had just premiered at the E3 2010 Press Conference for Konami. By the look of it, it looks pretty good. The new protagonist is a prisoner and it seems that he come across Silent Hill while escaping from his prison truck. Or maybe he was caught after he visits Silent Hill? Anyway, the visuals looks pretty cool. The new design for Silent Hill town looks kind of different though than previous games. It kind of reminded me of Alan Wake. Nevertheless, the visuals look good. And do I need to even mention the soundtrack? As usual, it was marvelous!

I'm looking forward to this game. Hopefully it will be as scary and twisted as the previous installments.

You can check out the trailer by clicking here. Hope you guys like it because I certainly do.

Rapunzel...A new twist in a classic fairy tale

I'm not sure whether it will be titled Rapunzel or Tangled. I'm kind of confuse on that. But anyway, by the look of the teaser trailer, the animated film looks pretty cool. Stunning visuals, that's for sure.

Tangled is an upcoming animated feature by Walt Disney Animation Studios and scheduled to be released on 24 November 2010. The film will be loosely based on the classic fairy tale Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm.

To watch the trailer, you can either click here or here (for the international trailer from Netherlands), both at SlashFilm. If last year Disney brought us The Princess and the Frog, this year we will be treated with Tangled. This should be fun.

Which Final Fantasy is this?

Seriously, I need to get my track back on the latest news in video games world because I've never heard anything about this game before. Apparently, Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of the Light had already been released in Japan in October last year and scheduled to be released in US and Europe in October this year. Although it sounded like it was a remake, it's actually more like a spin-off of the Final Fantasy main series. It was made for Nintendo DS.

I have here the trailer taken from GameTrailers (thanks!). Enjoy it!

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ~ review

Arabian music, deserts, holy city, gorgeous actors, CGI. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time sound like the perfect film for me to enjoy over the weekend. Then why did I came out of the cinema hall feeling dissatisfied?

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a video game-based film, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, directed by Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and starred Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan, Gemma Arterton as Princess Tamina and Ben Kingsley as Nizam. Although the plot didn't directly follow the plot of the video game, but the movie does have a lot of elements taken from the video game.


Let's first go through the things that I like about this movie. The settings; needless to say, with such a big budget, the settings for the movie are beautiful. Every little thing seems to be made with details. From the locations to the props, everything seems perfect. Next, the actors. Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton seem like a suitable couple for the movie. They have chemistry together and they both looked gorgeous on screen. Their acting were good too. Not to forget are the other actors like Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, Richard Coyle and Toby Kebbell who done completely well in portraying their characters.


Now for the things that I didn't quite like about the movie. The plot; although it was not entirely bad, I find the movie to be heavy with men fighting and less on the important things like the power of the Dagger of Time, and the effects that it can have to a person or the world if it to be used for the wrong reasons. To be fair, the fighting scenes were interesting, it just that there are too many of them, and they all look kind of the same especially when it involves the army. Fortunately the film have the spike-wielding Hassansin and the knives-throwing Seso of Ngbaka to spice up the fighting scenes.

I was also quite dissatisfied with the editing of the movie. I'm sure not an expert in this, but I do noticed some scenes that didn't quite made sense or didn't go along well with one another. I'm not sure whether it's the fault of the editing team or the censorship board in my country, but it made the movie looked rushed, in my opinion at least.


Overall, I didn't quite like the movie, but I didn't hate it either. It just an average movie. But my sister kind of like it, so don't take my word for it, go see it and judge it yourself. For me, the opening was good, the middle was quite boring, and the end was awesome. I do hope they make a sequel for this movie, because it has a lot of cool elements in it and there are so many other tales to tell. And hopefully, they make it even better next time.

Images courtesy of Wikipedia and Yahoo! Movies.

ICO ~ review

I fondly remember the day when I first saw the review for ICO when I was a teenager. I didn't remember what they say about it, but what I did remember were the hauntingly good background music and a scene of a boy running up a staircase (or was it running down?) while fighting shadowy creatures. It was a fond memory indeed. I made a promise to myself to look for this game if I ever get myself a PlayStation 2 in the future. Time goes by and I didn't get a chance to buy one, and the memory of the game slowly fades away. At times I can still visualize the boy fighting the shadowy creatures but I can no longer remember the name of the game.

Fast forward to 7 or 8 years later, I finally purchased the game and completed playing it. I stumbled upon the game accidentally as I was browsing for PS2 games to buy. Although I didn't quite recognize it at first (I forgot the name of the game) but memories started flooded back to me and I immediately made my choice and bought it. The promise I made years ago was worth it because ICO is a beautiful, unique and heart-warming video game I had ever played.

ICO is about a young boy with horns who was locked away in a seemingly abandoned fortress by his village men since boys born with horns are considered as a bad omen. As he tried to find a way to escape the fortress, he met Yorda, a young girl with glowing skin, caged in one of the room. He freed her and together they explored the huge fortress to find escape while running away from mysterious shadowy creatures that relentlessly tried to abduct Yorda, and a mysterious Queen of the fortress who controlled them.


As I was playing the game, I was mesmerized by the beauty of the scenery in it. Even in a room filled with fallen rocks and ruins, I cannot help but amazed with the visuals. The lighting effect displayed in the game was spectacular. You can see that the developer are keen on the details. Although the visuals would not match the standard of today high-definition games on XBox 360 and PS3, they do have their own magic to captivate any gamers. Characters can appeared quire sharp on the edges on screens but I tend to oversee that due to the beautiful overall appearance of the surrounding environments.

Playing the game was quite simple; no health bar, no list of items, no instructions. You just go and do what you felt that needed to do. Guide Yorda through tricky places and figure out puzzles to overcome obstacles. Pick up sticks or sword and slash through the shadowy creatures once they appear. Call Yorda or take her hand and run if you must. I made it sound too simple for pleasure but ICO does give an emotional experience. The horned boy and Yorda did not speak the same language but somehow you felt their connection and bonding. They trust each other and language was not a barrier to them. It was really sweet seeing them fallen asleep next to each other on the glowing couch that act as a save point. And the cutscenes, especially towards the ending, was really heart-breaking. Story-wise, ICO is perfect.


One major complaint that I noticed from gamers around the world was the length of the game. Having played it, I must admit, it was short compared to the rest of the games that I had played. Nevertheless, the experience was priceless. There is simply no word that can accurately describe my feelings towards the game, therefore, I recommended people to buy this game and experience it yourself, if you haven't play it already. It is indeed a hidden jewel among all the blockbuster games that filled the market. It is worth every single penny.

For me, ICO is a masterpiece.


Images courtesy of Wikipedia and Gamespot.

Feast for little fishes

Piranha 3D is scheduled to be released in August 2010. It's a remake of the 1978 movie. Some of the stars include Elisabeth Shue, Richard Dreyfuss, Ving Rhames, Dina Meyer and Adam Scott.

It looks a little bit cheesy but kind of interesting too. I hope it will not be too predictable like so many movies featuring ferocious creatures that I've seen; bait it, trap it, then blow it.

Here's the trailer courtesy of IGN. Enjoy!

Attack of the Korean girls

We have seen an emergence of a lot of girl groups from South Korea in the last few years. With catchy songs, sexy dance moves, cute faces, they have melt the hearts of not just music lovers in Korea but all across the globe. As the Korean Wave has strongly swept the Asian region and rapidly making its way beyond Asia, I present you my Top 3 favourite Korean girl groups that had catch my heart with their lovable music. Get ready for these hot girls.

Image from here

3. Brown Eyed Girls

Also known as B.E.G., the group consists of four members and they are; Jea, Ga-in, Narsha and Miryo. Debuted in 2006, some of their hit songs are L.O.V.E and How Come. In 2009, they change their image into a more mature and provocative style with the release of their new album, Sound G. The single from that album, Abracadabra, became a huge success and also sparked some controversy regarding the music video.

Although Abracadabra had been such a huge hit on the web, my personal favourite single from them is How Come. My favourite music video from them is, of course, Abracadabra. With sexy swinging hip moves, what not to like about it. Their latest single, Sign, is also quite addictive to listen to. You can check out the links below for their music videos on YouTube;

How Come
Abracadabra
Sign

Image from here

2. 2NE1

Made up of members CL, Dara, Park Bom and Minzy, the group is more like the girl version of the Korean boy band Big Bang. Created by the same company, YG Entertainment, their debut single Fire was a huge success. Their 2nd single, I Don't Care, was also a big hit. After that, they focus on solo careers before joining back together to release a new single, Try to Follow Me.

Although they have not as many singles as some of the other groups (at least single released as a group, not solo efforts), but their up-beat songs and extraordinary fashion style really caught my attention. Just watch the music video for Try to Follow Me and you'll understand what I mean. CL is definitely my favourite member from the group...no, wait, she's my favourite from all the Korean girl groups that I've known. She's really stood out. You can check the links below for their awesome music videos on YouTube;

Fire
I Don't Care
Try to Follow Me

Image from here

1. Wonder Girls

Currently consists of Sunye, Ye-eun, Sohee, Yubin and Hye-rim, Wonder Girls debuted in 2007 with their single, Irony from their mini-album. Then they released their full-length album, The Wonder Years that feature the hit single, Tell Me. It became so popular that the dance feature in the music video had been followed by fans all over the world. Their other notable hits are So Hot and Nobody. In 2009, they begin to venture into the American market by promoting the English version of the single Nobody. They also joined the Jonas Brothers in their North American leg tour.

Although I had listened to several other Korean female groups like Fin. KL and Baby V.O.X. before, Wonder Girls was the main reason I'm into K-pop right now, and that's also why they are on top of my list. Their infectious songs and dance moves really lightened up my day. And I think I had a crush on Sunye. Anyway, I had posted their music videos in my blog before, just click on the link below. I had also listed the links for the videos at YouTube;

K-pop section
Tell Me
So Hot
Nobody


I hope you enjoy my post about these amazing talents. Feel free to add some comments if you have anything on your mind.

Poor vocabulary.

I was reading back my review of Iron Man 2 and I realized I used the word 'entertaining' about 6 times (!!!). I really need to work on my vocabulary. I'm pretty poor in that area...among other things that I poor of. Sad but true. LOL.

Iron Man 2 ~ review

Iron Man 2, starring Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson, is the sequel to Iron Man which opened in cinemas in 2008 with great acclaim.


To be honest, I'm not really a fan of the 1st Iron Man movie. I like Spiderman trilogy, X-men trilogy and The Dark Knight more. But Iron Man 2 really is more entertaining that the 1st movie, in my opinion at least. Set 6 months after the end of the 1st film, this movie explores more on the struggles of Tony Stark after he announced that he was indeed Iron Man. The US Government wants him to turn over his suit, his image as the peacemaker of the world, and his blood toxicity from the palladium in his arc reactor that could cause his death; all of these pressures ultimately strained his relationship with his love-interest, Pepper Potts, and his friend, Lt. Colonel James Rhodes.


Plot-wise, it was good and entertaining but at times I felt a bit overwhelmed. There's too much going on and some things were not even properly explained or explored. I think Ivan Vanko's character is underdeveloped and his vengeance to destroy Iron Man was not strong enough. He would be an even more great villain if they just spend a little more time exploring his past. But the lines, especially from Tony Stark, in this movie are brilliant. I love watching confrontation between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, they are even more entertaining than the cool gadgets and action sequences.

Speaking of action sequences, there are quite a few in this movie which are entertaining and fun to watch, and some are more extravagant than the 1st film. Watching Scarlett Johansson kick some butts was entertaining too. But honestly, I think the action sequences were like distractions to the overwhelming plot. Not to say it was bad, it just that I wish the plot could have match the quality of the action sequences.


I have no complaint for the acting in this movie. Every actor plays their parts extremely well. Although Tony Stark was supposed to be the center of attention, but I think Pepper Potts was quite stood out too. I was doubtful when Don Cheadle made his first appearance in the movie as Lt. Colonel James Rhodes, the change of actors for the role made it felt like it was a totally different character altogether. But by the end of the movie, I think he did well.

To sum it up, Iron Man 2 was fun and entertaining with a few hiccups here and there. But don't worry, if you love the 1st film, you would love this one too. 3 stars out of 5 from me.

Alan Wake...fight the darkness with light!

I know I already post something about Alan Wake before but it doesn't hurt to post about it again. This game looks so good I can barely surf the net without first watching a video about it. The visuals are stunning and the light effect seems very realistic. Gametrailers has a few videos showing the gameplay for the game and it looks pretty awesome. Click here to go to the first part of the video (out of 4 parts).

The game drops 18 May 2010 in the US and we will see whether it is worth the wait.

Images courtesy of Gamestop.

Furry Vengeance...how did I miss this?

I don't know how, but this movie completely goes under my radar. I just realized its existence about...erm...a week ago, I guess. The trailer looks funny, and it starred Brendan Fraser, one of my favorite actor. Maybe all those big summer movies had blinded my eyes, and made me overlooked this one. But this could be the movie that I would watch instead of, let's say, Iron Man 2. A lot of people are queuing to buy tickets for Iron Man 2 anyway.

Here's the trailer to Furry Vengeance (thanks IGN!) starring Brendan Fraser, Brooke Shields, and a lot of animals. Looks interesting, but it kind of remind me of Evan Almighty. Maybe because of the animals. Anyway, enjoy the trailer!

Alchemy + maid cafe. Awesome anime on Animax!

Here are two anime series that I currently followed on Animax Asia (Channel 715, Astro Malaysia).

Source: click here

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

So far, 52 episodes had been broadcast. So if you just about to tune in to the show, your kind of late, but it's better late than never right. It tells the story of two bothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who lives in a world where alchemy triumph over science, and their journey to claim back their missing bodies (Edward's left leg and Alphonse's whole body) after attempting (and failing) to bring back their deceased mother to life by performing a forbidden alchemy transmutation.

Sound a bit complicated but trust me, it's a very good anime series. There was a same anime series called Fullmetal Alchemist (without the word Brotherhood) by the same animation studio that made this one, called Bones, but Brotherhood is more faithful to the manga storyline compared to the former that went a completely different path starting from its mid-season.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a part of the same-week telecast program by Animax Asia that features anime that will be aired in its channel in the same week that it debut in Japan. It airs every Friday on 8.30 p.m. with the last week episode aired on 8 p.m.. It is one of my favourite anime series of all time and judging by the great story and high-quality anime production, you wouldn't be surprised why.

Source: click here

Maid Sama!

A romantic comedy anime based on a popular shōjo manga series of the same name. The anime is about Misaki Ayuzawa, the first female Student Council President at Seika High, who secretly works part-time at a maid cafe to support her poor family. Being a very fierce and dictator-like president, especially towards the boys, she cannot let her part-time job being known to the others due to her image in school. However, things got out of hand when one of the most popular boys in school, Takumi Usui, found out her secret. Lucky for Misaki, Takumi is a cool guy and he keeps her secret. And their friendship grew as Takumi find an interest in her after seeing her working in the maid cafe and often give her advice in handling the unruly boys at school.

I rarely watch anime based on shojo manga, not that I hate them but I rarely exposed to them. But Maid Sama! has the kind of vibe that I like. I think I mostly like it because of the humor element in it. It's really funny! I tickles me when I see Misaki turning into jelly-like thing in the maid cafe dressing room, or when she becomes panic when she heard other boys saying the word 'maid' in their conversation, or even when she just walking around after school for inspection with her big, loud footsteps. The show is really relaxing, and I like it.

Maid Sama! is also a part of the same-week telecast program by Animax Asia. So far, 3 episodes had been broadcast. You can watch it every Sunday on 8.30 p.m.

Glee mania!

If you love singing competition like the Idol franchise, then you would love Glee. Glee is an American musical-comedy drama that I believe not only popular in the US, but also in other countries that airs it. The second part of season 1 had just started airing in the US but for people in Malaysia, the mid-season finale will air tonight at 10 pm on Star World (Astro Channel 711).

I've been a huge fan of Glee and I will definitely not miss tonight episode. For those of you that had never seen a single episode of Glee, I suggest you watch the mid-season finale tonight. Maybe it will change your mind. And if it did, hopefully Star World would air re-run episodes of the show so that you can catch up with it.

And for all the Gleeks (Glee + geek, that's what fans of the show are called), I hope you enjoy Glee tonight!

Alan who?

I've been hearing the name Alan Wake for quite some time now. Being a passive gamer, I've never bother about that name before. But now I should, since the highly anticipated video game is about to be released.

Labeled as a psychological action thriller, Alan Wake is being developed for Xbox 360 by Remedy Entertainment and will be released worldwide this coming May 2010. Seriously, I have nothing much to tell you about Alan Wake, except that the trailer reminds me of Silent Hill but with more stunning visuals.

So here's one of the many awesome videos of Alan Wake that you can find in GameTrailers. Hope you enjoy it.

How to Train Your Dragon ~ review

Imagine an animated movie filled with dragons. Different types, different species. Lots and lots of them. DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon is such a movie. You can find many different types of dragons in it. Don't like dragons? No problem! Because this movie has another thing to offer... a good story.

How to Train Your Dragon tells a story about a lonely young Viking, the son of the Chief of the Viking tribe, named Hiccup who befriend a Night Fury dragon, who he called Toothless. That wouldn't be much of a problem if it weren't for the fact that the Viking hunt and kill dragons as they see them as nothing more than pests who like to stole their stocks of sheep. As their friendship grew stronger, Hiccup begins to question who side will he be on; the Vikings or the dragons? This movie is actually loosely based on a children novel of the same name.


As I mention above, this movie has a very good story to offer other than just stunning visuals and lots of dragons variety. I find the story to be sweet, entertaining and heartwarming. But that doesn't mean that it's a drama; it has lots of action sequences too to give some energy to it. To be fair, the emotional effect and action sequences are quite balanced. I love the ending too; there is one part of it that I did not expect to happen and for me it's good and refreshing because you rarely see that type of 'twist' in an animated movie; especially one that most likely to have a sequel. The soundtrack also play a major role in the movie. I really love the sound of music during Hiccup and Toothless first meeting and also in the scene where Stoick scolded Hiccup for befriending a dragon. The music was emotional and rightly placed.


There's nothing to complain about the visuals either. The best I've seen from DreamWorks so far. The characters emotions especially for Hiccup are very life-like. And I must say the voice talents behind this movie had done a great job in expressing their characters' emotions. But there is one bad point; I found Hiccup's voice to be quite annoying at first. I really need some time to get used to it. Furthermore, I think his voice is quite unsuited compared to his physical appearance.


To sum it up, How to Train Your Dragon is definitely the best animated film so far that I had seen by DreamWorks. I highly recommended this movie to everyone, not just kids but adults too. Hopefully there's a sequel to this movie.

Images from Yahoo! Movies and Wikipedia.