The Maze Runner (film) ~ review

I've been waiting for this film for quite some time, and now that I had watched it, it's time to finally review it. This movie review is spoiler-free, so for those who haven't watch the movie yet, not to worry, you won't have the movie spoiled for you.

The Maze Runner is a science-fiction, action film based on the book of the same name by James Dashner, and starred Dylan O'Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Aml Ameen, Kaya Scodelario, Will Poulter and Blake Cooper, among others. The movie is about a teenage boy named Thomas who woke up and find himself trapped in a center of a giant maze with no memory of his past life. Together with the rest of the boys in the maze, Thomas must race against time to uncover the secret of the maze and find his way to freedom.

First of all, let's start with the story that this movie is trying to tell. Is it good? Personally, I really like the story a lot. It is entertaining, it keeps me guessing on what's coming up next (yes, I haven't read the book), it has the right atmosphere of despair and desperation but at the same time not too dark that could make it not suitable for younger audiences. It has a mystery element in it too and I'm enjoying my journey trying to solve the puzzle and mystery of the maze with the characters. Based off a book, the movie certainly find its ways and shortcuts to explain certain key points from the book (you can actually notice it eventhough you have not read the book). While overall the plot is quite easy to understand, the movie certainly doesn't take its time to properly explain certain things. But don't worry, even though you feel like you were left off some minor plot points, you can still enjoy the movie and it doesn't impact your enjoyment of watching it either, well at least it didn't impact me, so hopefully it won't impact yours too.

Ladies' Code Tribute ~ Rest In Peace EunB & RiSe

I believe all K-pop fans would have known the unfortunate event that befall Ladies' Code, one of the beloved K-pop girl group, which is the deaths of its two members; EunB and RiSe, due to a car accident. Whether you're a fan of the group or not, you would have to admit how tragic the news was not only to South Korean music industry, but also to K-pop fans worldwide, and certainly had left many in shocked and tears.

Image: EunB (left) and RiSe

A little background on the group for those who are new to them. Ladies' Code with members Ashley, Zuny, Sojung, RiSe and EunB, is under the management of Polaris Entertainment company in South Korea. Some of the members were already in the entertainment industry before the formation of the group such as Sojung who was a finalist on the talent show The Voice of Korea, and RiSe who participated in Miss Korea 2009 as representative from Japan. Debut in 2013, the 5-member group gained popularity with their debut song, Bad Girl, which was the lead track for their debut mini-album, Code#01. They follow that with the release of their first digital single, Hate You. Not long after that, they made another comeback with their 2nd mini-album, Code#02 Pretty Pretty, with the music video for Pretty Pretty featured a more fun and quirky concept than their previous releases. In 2014, they had released two singles; So Wonderful, an 80's influenced song, in February; and Kiss Kiss in August, which saw them gone back to their fun and quirky style like they did with Pretty Pretty.

The tragic accident happened in the early morning of September 3, 2014 when the van carrying the group along with their manager and a stylist crashed into a protective wall. Further investigation by the authority revealed that the van's back tire had fall out from the vehicle, and due to the rainy condition, had caused the van to skid and crashed into the protective wall. EunB passed away as a result of the accident while the rest were injured and rushed to the hospital. Sojung and RiSe were under critical condition; while Sojung condition stabilized later on, RiSe on the other hand succumbed to her injuries and passed away several days after the accident.

This sad event is certainly hard for family members and friends of both EunB and RiSe, so let us pray that they will be given strength to go though this, and my deepest condolences for their tragic loss. Hopefully Sojung, Zuny and Ashley will be strong too and may they get well soon.

Rest in peace EunB and RiSe.

What to watch? ~ 2014 movies: September

Eventhough the summer movies season has officially come to an end, it doesn't mean that we don't have any potentially good movies coming to the cinemas. There are still some interesting new ones coming out in the last few months of 2014. So what movies to be released in September that had caught my interest? Well, not much to be honest, according to my movie taste at least. Let's check them out.


1. The Maze Runner

I bought all the books in the series recently because of some promotion at the book store but decided not to read them yet. I heard a lot before about disappointed fans complaining how disconnected their beloved books had become with their movie adaptation (World War Z and Percy Jackson movies came to mind). Hence I will wait to watch the movie first before I read the book. Although the trailer looks promising, I don't want me knowing the plot from reading the book to set such high expectation for the movie adaptation. I think I would enjoy the movie much more this way. I really wish this film will be successful at the box office because it does seem to have a lot of potential to become a great movie franchise. It was also reported that the pre-production for the sequel had already begun early this month (September), so it would be sucked if the movie fail. Starring Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee and Will Poulter, and based on the book of the same name by James Dashner, The Maze Runner will be released on September 19, 2014 at the cinemas.


2. A Walk Among the Tombstones

I don't really like to watch heavy drama type of movies at the cinema, I would prefer to watch them at home on television. But I watched Prisoners (the one with Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal) last year at the cinema and surprisingly I really enjoyed it. So probably I would try again with A Walk Among the Tombstones, a crime drama film directed by Scott Frank and stars Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, Ruth Wilson and Boyd Holbrook, based on a novel of the same name by Lawrence Block. I think Liam Neeson looks pretty cool in this movie (judging from my view of the trailer) so it will be interesting to see how he would play the character throughout the movie. The film, which is about a former NYPD cop and a private investigator who was hired by a drug dealer to find his kidnapped wife, will be released in the cinemas on September 19, 2014.


3. The Boxtrolls

I love stop-motion animation, there's something unique and interesting about it. Unfortunately I had only watched one movie in cinema before, which was Corpse Bride. Others like Coraline and Frankenweenie I had only watched on television before. The Boxtrolls seems like a good movie; it's about an orphaned boy raised by trolls who lived underground beneath a city and his quest in saving his trolls family from an evil exterminator. Here's hoping I would be excited enough when this movie comes out to watch it in the cinema. With voice casts that includes Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Ben Kingsley, Elle Fanning, Jared Harris, Simon Pegg and Toni Collette, The Boxtrolls will open in cinemas on September 26, 2014.


So currently there are only three movies that I'm interested in for September. What about you? Any other movies you're interested in? It seems like a slow month at the box office in September, but don't worry, there are some big movies coming out soon.

The Signal (2014) ~ review

The Signal has finally been released here in Malaysia (28th August 2014 to be exact). The low-budget, sci-fi film originally premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was released in US cinemas on June 13, 2014. I was looking forward to the movie and almost afraid that it would not be released here in Malaysia, but thankfully it did.

The Signal tells the story of a young guy who found himself in some kind of research facility after having a terrifying experience in an isolated area in a desert with his two friends. The main character Nic, played by Brenton Thwaites, must figure things out as he was being examined by the main scientist, Damon (played by Laurence Fishburne) and find a way to escape the facility with his two friends Haley (Olivia Cooke) and Jonah (Beau Knapp). What is actually going on? Why are they being quarantined in the facility? What happened to them that night at the desert?