Lazy Sunday

Okay let me make this a quick one since I’m having the mother of all headaches now…

So what did I do today huh? Nothing much, but:


Lazy Sunday

Yeah it was a Lazy Sunday and I woke up in the late afternoon. Hahaha yeah I did like usual. Then at around 5-6pm (which was a few hours after I woke up – you do the math) went to Jusco for some shopping. Played some pool, and bumped into Sheila, Azfar’s cousin. Meh…that was all.


A Surprise Meet

After Jusco, went to the RK Siang Malam joint and hooked up with mah fave DVD joint and bought some DVDs (a buy 5 free 1 promotion!). Then I met my long lost friend from high school. Her comments about me: I’m got ‘bigger’ and ‘taller’. Now I would like to ignore the former comment and focus on the latter one, but meh…who am I kidding? Yeah fine I’m huge. At least I’m happy so what if I’m huge huh? Hahaha!


Watch Till You Puke

Began watching the first DVD out of the 6 bunch: Exorcism of Emily Rose. My summary? Creepy, interesting, and thought provoking. Dude, Jennifer Carpenter creeped me out with her performance. Kinda made me remembered about Linda Blair. Cool.

Second meal of the night (or morning): The Wedding Crashers. This movie may star the dynamic duo, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn but didn’t quite get that nut job movie I was expecting. Instead, it turned out to be an okay rom-com with a lil’ bit of nutjobs, a lil’ bit of T&A, a lil’ bit of heart warming scenes, a WHOLE LOTTA CUTESY (thank God for Rachel McAdams…she’s such a cutie!) and what Wilson-Vaughn comedy would be complete without a lil’ bit of a mystery character by the name of Chaz. Man when that face appeared from the shadows I cracked my ass off laughing!

All in all I had a so-so day but thank you Miss McAdams for being so cute and making me sleep better at night.

Next on the list: Tom-Yum Goong, Into The Blue, Transporter 2 and a whole lotta DOOM.

Shit this headache is cracking my skull. Sleepers yo’!


-peace!-

King Kong: The Eighth Review of The World (I wish)

Okay I figured out that since it’s already December and what better way to update this blog by giving…no not presents for Christmas…dude…Santa doesn’t even exists (kids, sorry to make you disappointed but face the facts kids…Santa’s just a creative imagination from some parent(s) during the early years to ensure that the kids won’t be pissing them off with whiny cries for presents and stuff). Anyhoo, I would like to update this bloody rusty blog with a movie review. What movie you ask? Hrm…how about:


KING KONG!

Yeah folks, it IS the latest movie anyway and I just saw it yesterday with my family and here ya go – my review. Enjoy.


So a few days back I prepped myself before watching Peter Jackson’s version of Kong by getting a hold on the 1933 original of Kong starring Fay Wray. Yes, this version is the one we all were grown to love, and its story was one of the most original and of course the one that most probably nobody could duplicate in decades (or so I think). This is when the people in 1933 watched in horror as a giant sized gorilla took a tiny little blonde woman as captive, wondering wildly what the heck would that giant gorilla do to her (dudes, I don’t think there were that many perverts back in the day so lay off with that thought aight. You know what thought…please).

Although the Kong effects are laughable by today’s standards (d’uh the movie was in 1933 for God’s sake…still, it had great effects considering the time period), the whole story still delivers that simple yet effective ‘love story’ between a monkey and a woman (again, keep your thoughts to yourself pervs). A story telling us that 25 foot gorillas have feelings too, in fact all living things do.

Fast forward 72 years later, this New Zealander known for Hobbits, Elves and the Ring is already out with his version of King Kong. Yeap, Peter Jackson does it again with King Kong. Now, first things first – this King Kong is not a remake for sure. It’s Peter Jackson’s version of it, and I’ll stress out why later on.

Starring the lovely Naomi Watts, the talented Adrien Brody and of course the mega rock star Jack Black, King Kong sets to rock your Kong socks off your Kong feet.

First and foremost – King Kong is 3 hours long. Yes. 3 hours long. Hey, but don’t let the length of the movie scare you. Seriously, you won’t be feeling the 3 hours in the end, but for preparation get a good sleep before watching the show cos’ you won’t wanna be snoozing off in the middle of the show.

King Kong starts off by giving us a good view of how America looks like in the 30s, with homeless people everywhere, the rich and the poor separated so widely and so on. I suck in history but isn’t this during the Great Depression era? Yeah you smart asses can kick my ass and sue me for being a dumbass. Anyway, it then tells us about the two main characters and that they were both down on their lucks with their dreams – showbiz. We got Ann Darrow (Watts) with her luck in theater and we got Carl Denham (Black), a director struggling with his flopping movies. The whole story shifts into gear when Denham and Darrow meet each other. Starting from this point, the main theme of the movie is ‘fate’.

Pete Jackson (PJ) really managed to inject this ‘theme’ by just using the haunting musical score, plus the perfect facial expressions of Watts and Black. Dude, you’ll know that all of this was fate. They’ll tell you that in your face…and it keeps on getting better till the end.

This is what I would like to highlight about PJ’s sheer brilliance in directing an epic such as King Kong. He injects emotion, feelings, and life into the characters in King Kong. He makes you wanna care about the side characters as much as you would about the main characters. The movie crew, the ship crew and heck you’ll even feel for the ship’s chef (played by Andy Serkis).

This is what I adore the most about PJ. He is a genius. That’s why I mentioned that King Kong is PJ’s version and not a remake. The original King Kong storyline was just the guideline for this King Kong and many, many extra injections of life and emotion were given by PJ. If you liked the LOTR trilogy, you can expect the same experience of the sadness, the happiness and the fear in King Kong. You thought the 1933 King Kong’s ending was tragic? Wait till you see PJ’s King Kong. 72 years of advancement in the special effects department really pays off in this flick.

I really can’t say much more in writing as you really have to watch the movie to get what I’m talking about…but I will continue to write about the damn sweet special effects and the whole environment in King Kong. The environment is like a drawing coming to life, especially Skull Island. The creatures however range from normal to superb. The dinosaurs are superb – the Rexes and the Brontosauruses really look cool and bring back that Jurassic Park feeling. The other inhabitants however, look normal (to me at least). When I say normal, I don’t really mean ugly…I just mean that it looks too CG to me. The truth is that it’s actually a mixed bag cos’ sometimes the centipedes look realistic enough, sometimes they don’t – same goes for the bats, the crabs and others.

Kong however is perfect. Kong walks like Kong should. Kong roars like a King of the Jungle should. Kong talks like a gorilla should…which basically means he doesn’t technically talk but he does that monkey talk of his…well…that is considered as talking right? Kong really shows us that he too, has a soft side in that beastly hide of his. He’s tough, he’s scary, he’s scarred but he’s actually too proud to admit that he too likes humor, likes the presence of someone who loves him and loves the fact that he has someone to save and that someone depends on him. Hmm…sounds like us men huh? Hehe. Thanks to awesome motion capturing (by the brilliant Andy Serkis) and awesome CG work by WETA workshop, Kong really is Kong.

Bottom line is - the story really works up on the human psychology. It manages to make you relax with soft, slow scenes and then makes you jump out of your seat with excitement with awesome giant battles, slick escapes and near-death encounters and then it pulls you back on a relaxing trip down soft, slow lanes again. I don’t know about others, but it sure worked for me!

This story really is multi-layered as it really has a lot of messages buried deep beneath the surface of the ‘beauty and the beast’ story – not unlike Kong himself with reasons as stated in the previous paragraph. This movie makes you ask a lot of questions in the end. Who the real beast is in the end; Kong or humans? Should you judge a book by its cover? Why humans think more of themselves and not others? Why is Adrien Brody’s nose that big? Okay maybe not that question but it is a mystery on its own*.

My recommendation: Call up the nearest cinema. Book your tickets. Get a good rest and some sleep. Watch the movie. Be amazed. Thank me later.

Shah’s score – 9/10

*P.S: I am available for psychiatric consultation on Mondays and Thursdays.

Target: Blog - Item: Karat

Sesi membuang karat phase 2 sudah pun bermula. Kita mulakan dengan penggunaan blogger add-on for Microsoft word. Hrm…if this works…I would be updating this blog in a few moments..stay tuned people..


-peace!-