Katie

March 26, 2008

Was just chatting to Aresha on our favourite Horton hears Who character, Katie.

“In my world, everyone’s a pony, and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!”

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I Am Legend

January 3, 2008

Official website HERE

The crux of it all
The trailers of this show kind of gave away what the film was going to be about. Without giving away too much, it was a monster flick which revolved around the dooms day theme that a virus is going to sweep through the earth and wipe out almost the whole human race – ala Heroes season 2! What I seriously didn’t know about was that this was a remake of an old movie.

The show starts with the cure for cancer which involves mutating the measles virus to alter the way the body deals with fighting against cancer. This cure however mutates and causes an air borne virus which causes humans as well as animals to become vampires-ish where their skin becomes sensitive to UV rays. Without giving too much away of the film…. Fast forward to an age (2012) where almost 90% of the world has been exterminated by the virus or eaten by the infected, we have Will Smith LTC Robert Neville – who is immune to the deadly virus – driving through a deserted New York city hunting deer in his Ford Mustang with his pet dog companion Samantha. He basically goes through his daily routines of watching taped news telecasts and talking to mannequins that he places around town to “keep him sane” in a city devoid of any life.

He stays in a fully fortified apartment block with a laboratory at the bottom for his numerous testing. Part of his devotion is to finding the cure for this virus which he uses a serum from his own blood. He also spends the rest of his days going to the DVD stall to watch movies and sends out radio broadcasts at midday to any survivors who might still be out there. The plot thickens when he captures an infected woman and runs tests on her to see if his cures are working. An infected man – presumably the leader of the infected – stands in the dark doorway watching as the women is captured and taken away. This is as far as I will go as to how the story progresses…

The verdict
I would give this movie 3.5 stars out of 5 for the good acting of Will Smith as well as the thrill and scare factor of the film. The story and character development was good – although this one has been a total adventure away from the original movie story line which I read about. CG was ok with the infected a bit computerized for my liking.

Personally, I think if more characters were introduced earlier on in the movie to compliment Robert Nevilles struggles in New York, it would have added a bit more bite to the ending with their combined struggles. A friend told me that he couldn’t believe that this film was only rated PG and I agree that it should have a more restricted rating as it could be a bit disturbing for the younger viewers. I can vouch for that cos I was seriously spooked when I got home to see my dog waiting at the door for me and was afraid to sleep with the lights off.

-WayneP-

Angela: I’m just upset about Sam

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Wayne P Reports: Transformers

July 2, 2007

Ever since I was young my favourite toys had to be the Transformers. It combined 2 things which I loved very much as a kid – and still do, fast cars and cartoon. So, when I heard that they were making a movie about it a year ago I waited in baited breath for its release.

From what I read in forums and fan sites, the storyline of the movie would be nothing like The Transformers: The Movie cartoon, which is to this day the best animation/cartoon I have ever seen or has really made me cry. I guess being a very impressionable 8 year old at the time in 1986; it was something totally unlike the happy-feel good sentiment of the cartoon series - in which good triumphed over evil. The cartoon movie took on a very dark and sinister tone with a very sad but much needed climax to bring forth a new generation of transformers.

Anyway, there was some apprehension towards this movie as I have seen many a CG disaster (read: Spiderman 3 and Star Wars Episode III) and I was expecting no less since there was no avoiding it. To my relief it was not, in fact the CG was an inch short of amazing and the movie almost matching my expectations after the cartoon.

The Storyline
Basically there has been civil unrest in Cybertron between the Autobots and Decepticons. Megatron the Decepticon leader has been searching for the Allspark, which is said to possess infinite power, to help him take over Cybertron and haverst use Earth to harvest it for its energy. Sam Witwicky buys a car which turns out to be Bumble Bee – not the Volkswagen Beatle but a Chevy Camero – and helps the Optimus Prime gain control of the Allspark – for you Transformer buffs its called The Matrix in the cartoon – and the fighting takes you from Qatar to the Hoover Dam to L.A.

The Crunch
The CG is amazing with the robots looking really like they actually did exist in the flesh. No cartoony looking feel to it as the shadows, shapes and transformations from their alter egos. You really do feel an attachment to these robots, very similar to how you could identify with the ones in the cartoons and they do evoke the same sort of feelings which I thought epitomized an Autobot.

The storyline was simple and yet it did not meander away too much from the original storyline though some of the vehicles have been upgraded to their American counter parts and the introduction of newer Decepticons. There was action from start to finish and Megan Fox was beautiful eye candy throughout the show. The film was well directed and the action sequences were fluid and fast moving, bringing you from one scene to another. The sound track too is something that I will definitely have to get with Linkin Park and the Smashing Pumpkins performing.

This show is a must see and if you have love the Transformers cartoons get yourself some Gold Class tickets. It was a really good movie that I enjoyed tremendously and brought back so many good memories of me racing through my mom’s garden fighting off Decepticon intrusions!

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Chic Flick of the Month

December 19, 2006

Saturday night, we watched “The Holiday” at the new Vivocity Cinemas. Now i must admit, i’m a complete sucker for chic flicks. Sometimes you just don’t want to think too much, just throw me the love, tragedy, drama and a happy ending. And this…is exactly one of them.

But, having said that, guys, if you’re reading this. Baaadd idea to bring your lady to watch that movie, because you’re just going to get yourself into trouble. Her expectations of you are going to fly through the roof, and for the next few days, she’s going to expect you to write her a song or romance her all over again. Don’t say i didn’t warn you.

My thoughts: Cameron Diaz can’t act, Jude Law’s character is terribly charming, true love shows up when you least expected and i want to see snow again.

Deep down, there’s a little voice telling me to move to England for a couple of years, just to have a taste of living in a foreign country (ok that sounds weird, considering the fact that england is meant to be home for me). But i want to be able to wear a coat outside, i want to exhale a misty breath, i want to light a fire in the fireplace when its cold, i want to be sipping a hot cup of tea as it snows outside.

hmmm…. we’re all allowed to dream sometimes right?

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Wayne P. Reports!

June 11, 2006

Hello hello. My first guest appearance and I have been tasked to review the movie The Omen which we saw last night. As you can see, to get ourselves into the mood, we got tickets for the midnight show for the morning of the 6th of June 2006 (0000, 666) in Hall 4 (4 Horsemen). Were these all signs for things to come? The movie was a remake of the 1976 cult film which many a horror fan (myself included) has seen.

Background
The movie generally is about the arrival of the Antichrist that has come to claim the earth. This is prophesized in the Book of Revelations Chapter 6, which states that the Four Horsemen will arrive onto earth after the 4 Seals have been broken freeing them each. T

he 4 are the White Horse (Antichrist), the Red Horse (War, Blood), the Black Horse (Famine) and the Pale Horse (Pestilence). Basically, all this has happened in the world with a few signs to confirm this like the star of Bethlehem appearing, the Jews returning to Zion, etc. Without spoiling the show too much for those who haven’t seen it, Damien is apparently the last horseman, the Antichrist, who has come down to claim the world.

Verdict
The original scared the living hell out of me when I was young and I had great expectations that this would do the same. Despite being really close to the original story - amid some timely updates, the movie overall did not do it for me. I guess it was anticipation of being scared out of my wits or for something new but this was not to be.

This one was a bit disjointed and the flow was not really very good. Focus had been given too much to the beginning than to the exploration of the origins of the child or the events that took place after it was born. There were shocks and there was a hint of eeriness about the show with the audience looking around every corner expecting something to jump out. However, the rawness of the original and the “uneasiness” about it was not entirely captured and I think most would be shocked rather than spooked by the show.

Plus I think the casting for Julia Stiles (played Katherine Thorn) was terrible as she did not suit the young mother role. I would have to give it maybe a 3 / 5 for not detracting away from the original and some pretty spooky acting by Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick (played Damien).

On a side note I had multiple bad dreams after going to sleep at 0300hrs (yes yes the haunting hour). Had kept on getting dreams that someone was standing at the foot of my bed or in the corner of my room while I was in “half sleep” and had to wake up a few times to make sure nothing was there. Whether it’s related to the show or not I have no clue, but the dreams surpassed the scare factor which the show failed to live up to.

Wayne P.

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