Ranking the Avengers in Avengers: Age of Ultron

I bet plenty of you had watched Avengers: Age of Ultron, maybe even more than once. It's a great movie and I like it a lot. But which Avenger is your favourite? Instead of a regular movie review, I've decided to rank the Avengers like what I did when the first Avengers movie came out, but this time I will rank it in order from the bottom to the top (I ranked it randomly in my post for the first movie). I will only list the main characters so there will be 9 Avengers altogether. There will be no major spoilers here but if you haven't watch the movie and want to avoid any kind of spoilers (even the smallest one that may already have been revealed in the trailers and TV spots) - and to be fair, there are some minor spoilers involving a character's origin included here, you best leave this post right away. So which Avenger will be on top of my list? Let's start from the bottom and work our way up the list. Let's begin...Avengers assemble!


9 - Thor

At the bottom of my list is Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth on the silver screen). He is quite popular with the ladies and I think Thor is an interesting character too. However, I always feel that he didn't fit well with the team, always seems like the odd one out. Even though Thor's solo movies were not as highly acclaimed compared to some of the other superhero's movies from the team, at least he is more outstanding, or should I say he has stronger presence, in his own movies rather than in an ensemble team. Furthermore, he didn't have a strong character development in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and most of his scenes were focused on his abilities and the power that he possessed. Nevertheless, Thor still looked awesome in this movie, and his scenes when he used his hammer to call on the lightning were really amazing. I'm looking forward for his next adventure on the big screen with his third solo movie.


8 - Quicksilver

Oh Pietro Maximoff a.k.a. Quicksilver ~ I think it was quite unfair the way the movie handled the character at the end of the movie. He's a particularly interesting character and his relationship with his twin sister was one of the aspect that I like about this movie. Aside from that, his banter with Hawkeye were fun to watch too. Aaron Taylor-Johnson played the character well, and he definitely made an impact in the movie, especially in the final battle with Ultron. However, I felt that the character could have been developed more, that was also why I'm quite disappointed with the way the character was handled in the end, such a waste, a missed opportunity. From the studio point of view, I kind of understand why they had to do that, but still, it was a tad unnecessary.


7 - Hawkeye

Clint Barton a.k.a Hawkeye is a cool character, I like him. A lot of people complaint the way the character was handled in the first Avengers movie, so here in the sequel we can see they had expanded his role and make him more relevant to the team. Even from the first movie, I can see he is a great asset to the team, so I don't really have any issue with how he was handled in the first film, but to see the character developed even more in this movie is certainly delightful. The character and the actor playing him, Jeremy Renner, really deserved it. I really hope the studio would insert him in other solo movies the way they did with the Black Widow character, that would greatly help to make Hawkeye even more important and recognizable in the Marvel Cinematic Universe like the rest of the Avengers.

What to watch? ~ 2015 movies: May

The summer movie season has started, and we have plenty of blockbuster movies lining up ready to please the cinemagoers...or will they? It's going to be quite competitive at the box office because it's so packed with so many big movies. I wonder which movies will become successful and which will lose the audiences interest? Let's look at the movies that I'm most excited about that will be released in May.


1) Hot Pursuit

I don't really like watching comedy films at the cinema but Hot Pursuit is a movie I'm willing to try. Starred Reese Witherspoon (who also acted as one of the producer for this movie) and Sofia Vergara, the movie is about a police officer who has to protect a wife of a criminal from other criminals and dirty cops who are after her. It is directed by Anne Fletcher who had also directed movies like The Proposal (with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds) and 27 Dresses (with Katherine Heigl and James Marsden) before. The trailer for Hot Pursuit looks quite funny although I don't know how much can it compete with this year's packed and highly competitive summer movie season. We'll wait and see if the counter-programming strategy will work for this movie. Hot Pursuit will be released in cinemas on May 8, 2015.


2) Mad Max: Fury Road

I don't think I have watch any of the Mad Max movies before. But that doesn't stop me from being excited for this movie. The trailers for it look incredible, with stunning visuals and eye-popping action and special effects, but I hope it will also has a good story to complement the rest of the amazing factors that I've mentioned. The movie stars Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron (whom I'm most excited about when it comes to the cast of this movie), Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Zoe Kravitz and many more. Originally George Miller, the director and mastermind behind this franchise, planned to shoot the movie back-to-back with its intended sequel, but that plan didn't seem to follow through. The sequel tittled Mad Max: Furiosa, seem to be focusing on Charlize Theron's character since she played a character named Imperator Furiosa. I love Charlize Theron so I hope this plan would become a reality. Mad Max: Fury Road would be released in cinemas on May 15, 2015

America's Next Top Model Cycle 21 ~ My 5 Favourite Photos (Guys)

Welcome to my second post for America's Next Top Model Cycle 21 where I'm listing down my top 10 favourite photos from this cycle. I've separated the list into Top 5 Guys and Top 5 Girls. I had already done the list for the girls, if you missed it, you can check out the post here. Before we start, let me remind you of the rule that I made when I was shortlisting the list; I've limit the photos to 2 photos per contestant. Now, let's find out who are listed in my top 5 list for the guys. Let's start!


5) Keith

Contestant: Keith Carlos
Episode: 08 (Heritage + A.I. relationship)

Keith is the first ever male winner for the reality show, so congratulations to him! While I do like some of his photos, I must admit that sometimes he always give the same kind of look in his photos and there is lack of variety in his expressions. That is why I like his photo from this photoshoot, where his face had this mixture of confusion and angry expressions that differs from his other photos. For this photoshoot, the contestants were dressed based on their heritage (which was based on their DNA results), where it also involved Cory Hindorff, a contestant from the previous cycle. Cory acted as a cyborg and they played a science-fiction future scenario where the contestants had some kind of relationship with an artificial intelligence. I know, sounds complicated. But at least Keith nailed it. He look really good in this photo, so bravo to him.


4) Adam

Contestant: Adam Smith
Episode: 12 (Honeymoon)

Adam oh Adam, how had I misjudged you in the beginning of the competition. Who would have thought you would go all the way to become a top 3 contestant? I certainly didn't when I first saw him in the first couple of episodes for this cycle. He didn't seemed to be taking this competition seriously, as noted by some of the contestants too. But if you continue to watch his progress throughout this cycle, you will notice his determination and how he worked really hard to excel in each photoshoot, and how he also highly respected the judges and taking every criticism that had been thrown to him with his head held high. He got my respect for working very hard despite the doubts and skepticism that had come his way. And he really improved a lot especially towards the end of the competition, like this shot taken at the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Although Adam landed in the bottom 2 because of this photo, I still think he looked great in it.

America's Next Top Model Cycle 21 ~ My 5 Favourite Photos (Girls)

I know the 21st cycle of America's Next Top Model had aired a long time ago in the US but it was only one or two months ago when the finale was aired through StarWorld channel in Asia. So here I am, listing down my top 10 favourite photos for this cycle from the show. Or should I say top 5? I will be separating my list into girls and guys photos, with 5 of my favourite photos for each category. I also include one simple rule when I was shortlisting my list; each contestant can only have a maximum of 2 photos each. That makes it a lot easier for me to cut it down to only my top 5 picks.

Since the girls didn't win this cycle, let's start with them first, shall we? Below are my top 5 favourite photos of the girls from America's Next Top Model Cycle 21. Hope you enjoy it!


5) Chantelle

Contestant: Chantelle Young
Episode: 11 (MCM brand)

Chantelle was one of the unique contestant in the reality show because of her unique skin condition, nevertheless she was still a fierce competitor, perhaps maybe too fierce that made her somewhat alienated from the rest of the contestants. She was also the contestant that was originally eliminated and then brought back into the competition based on public voting. Obviously she was very popular based on the votes. I like this photo of her because her face looked soft, which was the opposite of her strong personality. I like the movement she made in the photo too. Sadly, this is the photo that landed her in the bottom two. But still, I like it! She looked good in this.


4) Kari

Contestant: Kari Calhoun
Episode: 06 (Hair whipping)

For this sixth episode, the contestants were doing a motion shoot with photographer Massimo Campana that involved whipping their hair. So it was not really a "photo" produced in this shoot, instead it was a short slow motion video. There were some amazing shots produced for this episode, and Kari's was one of my favourite. I always thought Kari have a very interesting face that set her apart from the rest of her competition. However, I feel her make-over was a bit too much and it turned her face a bit weird, but maybe that what was Tyra Banks was going for? A unique look for her? Nevertheless, she looked amazing in this shoot and I like it a lot.

What to watch? ~ 2015 movies: April

Bigger and bigger movies are coming your way. Which movies that are coming out in April that I'm most excited about?

1) Furious 7

I have never watch a Fast and Furious films in movie theater before, not because I don't like it but because I prefer to watch them on television. Besides, I'm not really into cars which this series is obviously obsessed about. But for this seventh entry, I might consider to watch it in cinemas, not only because I had heard many good things about it but also because this will be the last time I can watch Paul Walker, who tragically involved in a car accident and passed away, for the last time in movie theater. The trailer looks good so I might have a good time watching it. Beside Paul Walker, the movie also starred Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Jason Statham, Chris Bridges (Ludacris), Jordana Brewster, Tony Jaa, Kurt Russell and Ronda Rousey. Directed by James Wan, the movie had already open in cinemas (and currently banking a lot of money at the box-office) on April 3, 2015.


2) Child 44

I seldom watch movies with heavy themes in cinemas, but sometimes there are some movies that caught my interest with the story that it wants to deliver, like the one in Child 44, a movie adaptation from the novel of the same name by author Tom Rob Smith. The movie is about a disgraced MGB Agent named Leo Demidov played by Tom Hardy, who is tasked in investigating a series of brutal murder involving children. I kind of like the cast too, beside Tom Hardy the movie also starred Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman and Gary Oldman. The film setting also looks interesting which is in Soviet Union during Stalin's rule. Directed by Daniel Espinosa, the film is scheduled on April 17, 2015.