My 2010 Movie Hit List Pt 1

Here’s a list of movies that I’m looking forward to as we enter a glorious new year (in alphabetical order).

	Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland should be a blast. I’ve always loved Tim Burton’s stuff ever since he his take on Batman with Michael Keaton back when I was a teen. Johnny Depp looks creepy as the Mad Hatter but I’ll still catch this one.
	The Clash of the Titans remake is something to look forward too especially since I remember the original Clash of the Titans in it stop-motion glory. Sam Worthington is definitely making his mark in Hollywood as he makes his 3rd biggest role after Terminator Salvation and Avatar. I’m sure he’ll do better than Harry Hamlin. Heh.
	Angeline Jolie’s upcoming actioner Salt looks quite exciting. I’ve seen the trailer once or twice at the cinema and even if the story’s crap it should be a thrill-fest much like Wanted was. Keep an eye out for this one.
	Shrek returns in a brand new one with Shrek Forever After. I’ve heard that it features Shrek in an alternate dimension. I’ll have to check out the trailer after I’ve finished this post. Mike Myers is always a barrel of laughs and Shrek has never disappointed me so far. I don’t expect this 4th instalment to be any less.
	The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus! Terry Gilliam is quite the genius. The first time I ever heard of Gilliam was his 1988 epic The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. I’ve only seen two of his movies so far (12 Monkeys & Brothers Grimm) but suffice to see I like his style. It’s out now in the cinemas so I’ll have to catch this one a.s.a.p. before it disappears at the box-office.
	Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones is gonna be a real treat. I’ve seen the trailers and I have a great vibe for the movie. It has supernatural elements mixed in with a who-dun-it thriller edge. Conceptually its nothing new but Jackson is such a great director and I don’t think he can do wrong in this one.

I’m still scouring Apple.com for movies of note so do keep a look out for add-ons to this list in a future post.

Happy trails and have a great time at the movies this year!

T2: Judgment Day (Skynet Edition on Blu-Ray)

T2: Judgment Day

I picked up “T2: Judgment Day” on Blu-Ray last week on Monday after catching “Monsters Vs. Aliens” and it sat on my desk in my room for a few days before I finally got around to watching it on Thursday night.

It was a blast! T2 is a defining movie from my childhood and I remember being blown away when I watched it years ago. Sadly, I only got to watch it on video tape and never got to experience it on the big-screen and if things go well I’ll get to experience a semblance of it when I finally get around to getting a HDTV.

Anyways, I haven’t viewed any of the bonus content yet but I am convinced that despite the datedness of some things in the movie, the script is way much stronger compared to any iteration of the franchise. Linda Hamilton’s potrayal of Sarah Connor is amazing and she’s probably one of the strongest characters ever to appear on the silver screen. Strong, manic and obsessed, Sarah Connor represents us if all us would do something about a dystopian future where only death awaits (looking at the way the world is … maybe it’s not too far off; just no killer robots la). Arnold is the star of the show and the having him return as a hero instead of a villain was killer cos’ when everyone expected him to be the bad guy just like in the first film.

Musically the movie rocks! The Terminator theme evokes so much and hearing the strains of the score just sends shivers down my spine especially in the closing scene. I’m not gonna spoil it for some of you who have yet to watch Terminator 2 so just go watch this for yourselves. Pick it up on DVD or something. The great thing about the Blu-Ray version is that it contains 2 versions of the movie (and a third hidden as an Easter Egg I heard) plus tonnes of bonus content.

Give this one a spin – if you liked Terminator: Salvation, you’d like this one.

Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

Double Trouble

Terminate the Enterprise?

The weekend was pretty hectic. Helped out at a Youth Camp on Saturday and Sunday morning. Rushed back to Pee Jay for Star Trek (picked up some Baskin Robbins along the way too) and celebrated my aunt’s 70th birthday with my cousins.

Now back to the real purpose of this post. For the first time in a long time I watched 2 movies twice. Caught Terminator: Salvation on Thursday and Friday last week; Star Trek during its opening week and one more time yesterday with my cell members.

Star Trek was so much more AWESOME the 2nd time round and yes Zachary Quinto is great as Spock. Funnily enough in both movies I’ve found that I liked the supporting characters more. Sure, one might argue that Spock is a central character in his own right but technically Kirk is the hero of Star Trek as is the case in most stories. Sam Worthington’s Marcus Wright is a favourite of mine too as opposed to Christian Bale’s John Connor in Terminator: Salvation. Supporting characters play a great part in a movie and it’s rare these days that the strength of a movie can be placed on just one character. Point to note: one doesn’t always have to be the main character to be great in a movie.

Ah life is good in movie land this summer. Star Trek & Terminator: Salvation were both great and I “wonder” just what’s Up next?

P.S. If any of you are up to winning some hi-tech gear, there’s a blogging and video contest with great prizes that’ll reward your creative juices. Check it out here!

Terminator: Salvation

Terminator: Salvation

Highly-anticipated but a little disappointing. The conclusion of the movie leaves a fair bit to be desired and while watching it with my friend Jonas; well, he pointed out correctly that the closing battle in the movie was somewhat of a farce. It was a lil’ annoying tho’ that he pointed out some of these things while we were watching it. Heh heh … oh well.

Other than the two things above, Terminator: Salvation is definitely a worthy add-on to the Terminator series. On the whole I really enjoyed the performances of Christian Bale and of special note would Sam Worthington who plays the mysterious Marcus Wright. If some of you have already seen the trailer and the exclusive 4-min clip at Apple.com then you’d already know why Marcus Wright is such an interesting character and definitely a great addition to Terminator canon. I liked his character even more than I did Bale’s rendition of John Connor.

Effects-wise , Skynet’s army of robots are a sight to see. Hunter Killers, Mototerminators, T-600 terminators and some I don’t even know what they’re called; they are quite a spectacle to watch on the big screen. The future is a desolate & dark place indeed!

The weirdest thing that just occurred to me about the Terminator series is that Skynet is a computer and it so desperately wants to kill John Connor … that’s a lot of faith by the dreaded AI that one person can make a difference in a future that’s already overrun by the machines. Heh … funny how Skynet has a lot more faith than a lot of us put together. I think we can learn something from this fictional AI character in the movie. LOL!

All in all, I enjoyed the movie a whole lot even though the ending was a bit of a fizzle. McG (the director) definitely did a good job on this one but to be fair to him, 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day with James Cameron at the helm is a hard movie to beat cos’ the memory of it is burned into so many of us who watched it when we were younger (yes, yes I’m that old!).

Despite some of my negative comments, Terminator: Salvation is still a worth a watch at the movies this season. Catch it at a cinema near you!

P.S. Thank YOU Joshua for the FREE tickets. It was super nice of you to give them to me! God bless!

Rating: 4 Stars (out of 5)