The Kingdom

Gosh, when was the last time I went to the cinema for a flick? Should be a few months ago. Missed out on so many good movies. Recently, I was awarded a pair of tickets to the preview screening of The Kingdom, a movie about terrorism in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia which stars Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner. The scary beginning of the movie was able to capture the attention of the audience with all the sudden attacks on innocent residents and two suicide bombings. From there, the suspense really started building as four FBI agents risked their lives to investigate on the case. All while long, I was waiting to see if any of these agents will get killed. Not until the very end, one of the agents was captured. There was actually a plan to behead the unlucky agent. Nevertheless, he was rescued at the nick of time and the plan failed. Overall, it was quite action packed and truly depicts the fear and consequences of terrorism, conveying a strong message on world peace and humanity. You should definitely watch this. However, if you're a weak-hearted and sensitive person, don't catch it as it contains violence and religious issues. You have been warned! ****1/2

Nightmare Detective; Ratatouille

Watching movies is such a routine to me. At least a movie every week, I keep telling myself. Let it be new, old, any genres, any languages, any color. To date, I've seen almost 88 movies, an average of 3 movies a week. Of course, not all of them are released in the cinemas, and some of them are way back-dated such as the Evil Dead and Red Dragon. Anyway, I went for the preview screening of Nightmare Detective 2 weeks ago. At first, the movie occurred to be pretty cool to me, but after watching Nightmare on Elm Street, there seems to be quite a few similarities on concepts between the two movies. Basically, the title of the movie explains a lot of what one should expect and get from the movie. Japanese horror flicks are frequently to be missed whenever possible, but I seriously think that this one is a tad noteworthy among the bunch. ****

Just this evening, I won another pair of tickets to the exclusive preview screening of Ratatouille in GSC 1 Utama. Ever since I saw the trailer months ago in the cinema, I've always been wanting to catch this one as soon as it's up on the screens. Seriously, I had pretty high expectations from this new digitally animated film. But, I have to admit that it did disappoint slightly!, but as a whole, it's still a great, presentable movie. The story is pretty simple; it tells a tale of how a rat achieves his dream of becoming a chef. The moral value of courage, bravery and bond between organisms are instilled here. Overall, Pixar and Disney have created yet another masterpiece, as far as I'm concern. Love it. ****1/2

Some of the movies that I have yet to watch: Harry Potter, The Simpsons Movie, Rush Hour 3 & Rise: Blood Hunter.

Notes on a Scandal

You might not have even heard about the movie title before, but Notes on a Scandal is a great cinematographic adaptation of the novel (by Zoe Heller) which shares the same title. It was nominated for a 2006 Academy Award, and features Judi Dench as Barbara, the lonely old woman and Cate Blanchett as Sheba, the scandalous and notorious mother-cum-teacher. Both of them are Academy Award winners, which could be told by watching how the two ladies portrayed their roles fantastically in the film.

In just a few words, the story lies between the unusual friendship between Barbara and Sheba who works in the same school as teacher. Barbara's a big failure in sustaining friendship, which explains her loneliness and singlehood. Sheba, on the other hand, has a family but bonds well with Barbara (at first). how ever, Barbara soon finds out the dark secret of Sheba, who unintentionally and helplessly indulged in adultery with one of her student of Year Eleven. Barbara advised her to stop the relationship due to jealousy and legislations. Nevertheless, things didn't turn out the way they expected it to be, and when Barbara needed the companionship of Sheba, she wasn't there for her. Subsequently, she went all cuckoo and crazy and therefore, she revealed the scandal to another teacher, hoping that Sheba will learn her lesson.

I have to say, it's a pretty good movie. With a one of a kind story to tell, it's a great joy to watch the movie. ****

After watching the movie, I went to look for a few real cases on this particular issue. So, lets look at a few examples of teachers turned offenders which I found on the net. All I found were cases where the teachers are female. Rather difficult to look for any male cases, as no links were found.

Teacher: Mary Kay Fuulaau (January 30, 1962)
School: Shorewood Elementary School
Age: The first time - She (28), He (8)
The second time - She (33), He (13)
Punishment: 7 years in prison

Teacher: Karen Louise Ellis (1967)
School: Nil
Age: She (36), He (15)
Punishment: 2 years and 8 months in prison
Service of a minimum 6 months



Teacher: Debra Lafave (August 28, 1980)
School: Angelo L. Greco Middle School
Age: She (25), He (14)
Punishment: House arrest for 3 years
Probation for 7 years
Note: She was given a house arrest because she actually claimed that she's too pretty...



Teacher: Bridget Mary Nolan (1981)
School: Unidentified school in Riverland, South Australia
Age: She (24), He (15)
Punishment: Imprisonment for 2 years and 4 months

Selena; The Prestige; Casino Royale

Based on the true story of Selena, the movie Selena showcases the debut of Jennifer Lopez who turned into one of today's hottest stars on our planet with the best booty (which are insured!) in the industry. As a debut film for her, I personally think that she delivered a great job in impersonating the late Selena and portraying her twisted life. On top of that, the dance choreographies were very much alike, which makes the movie more fantastic when J. Lo started strutting her stuff in just a bra top (No, I ain't a pervert!). The main purpose of the movie is to educate us about the life of Selena, who was murdered by her own fans club's president who have been fraudulently cashing in money. Her stardom might have been short, but with the movie and all the respect that she gets, Selena will always be remembered. R.I.P. ***3/4

Next up, The Prestige deals with the war between two magicians, played by Hugh Jackman and and Christian Bale. The movie was based on the award-winning novel of the same name. Basically, the movie shows how hatred and jealousy leads to fatality. It also somehow shows to us how magicians do their trick using science and technology. Of course, when we're the audiences, we wouldn't notice any of the secrets or the techniques to magic. All my life, I've only seen magic for a couple of times. Yet, I'm very much amused by it. ***1/2

Bond. James Bond. One can call him shapeshifter for he has looked different for numerous times already. In the latest flick, Casino Royale, James Bond is played by the new blond, Daniel Craig. At first, I thought that his predecessor, Pierce Brosnan would have been a wiser choice in playing the role. But having seen the movie proved me wrong. Daniel, to me, rocked the movie better than any previous Bond film that I have seen. Great bodies and beautiful actions made the movie extremely thrilling. Oh, how can I not mention about the Bond girl of the film? Eva Green gained the spotlight as a French actress, who had starred in Kingdom of Heaven as well. On screen, their chemistry wasn't really there. Nevertheless, her presence charmed the screen. ****

Apocalypto; Music & Lyrics

Another film of gore, Apocalypto is set to entertain its audience although the language is foreign, forcing reliance on subtitles in order to understand the film. Directed by Mel Gibson, the same director who brought us The Passion of the Christ back then, the film extremely illustrated the violence of the late Maya society, raising eyebrows of some historians. Nevertheless, as a movie, it's pretty good and Adrien, skip this movie if you're planning to watch it. There was supposedly humor in certain parts, but all of them didn't turn out right. Watch out for the haunting girl who sees the future, and the eclipse moment during the sacrificial ceremony! ****

On the other hand, a film of romance, Music & Lyrics serves up well as a Valentine movie. Starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, it's so sweet to see them on screen as a lovely couple (in the end of course). And that girl that plays Cora, she has been signed a record deal and will be releasing her debut album in late 2007 or early 2008 if I'm not mistaken. She looks pretty young, hot and sexy. Very reminiscent of, Baby Britney to me. Anyway, the film focuses on the process of song writing till recording and the dramas in between. The blend of music, dances and story makes the movie wonderful. Worth a second watch. ****

Turistas: Holiday of Horror; Marie Antoinette; American Pie: The Naked Mile

Movies, movies and more movies. Been watching so many of 'em lately but as usual, they're releases of 2006 but was either never shown here or was screened a few months after the U.S./international release. First up, was supposed to watch this in the cinema in March or so but Kelly refused to, fearing that the movie's too horrific for her. Turistas: Holiday of Horror, a rather cheap production, does contain some elements of gore and violence, but they are pretty much limited to a couple of scenes only. Like the one where a person was forcefully murdered by his leader using a stick (those for satay or fruits) drilling through right through his eye. The bloodiest scene has to be the slaughtering one of the tourist alive but drugged and stealing her internal organs for donations. Ew. **3/4

Next up, is Marie Antoinette. The movie basically focuses on the period from the engagement to marriage of Lady Marie Antoinette played by Kirsten Dunst (yeap, Spidey's girlfriend). The movie's just pretty average, with a moderate flow of story but ended in a hurry it seemed. Nevertheless, KD played a great role, not to mention about her great presence and heck, she has grown more beautiful than ever. The costumes are the eye-candies, although there was a couple of weird ones to me. Like the one which is bulky from the sides, but flat at the front and the back. Ugh. ***1/2

Then, after American Pie spawned its many sequels, here comes another one which was directly released into the market without hitting the big screens. American Pie: The Naked Mile features more nudity and sex, but appears to be more bland than all its predecessors. It's definitely losing the steam. The actors and actresses are very much raw to the industry, although you might recognize the man who has appeared in all the franchises (Jim's dad). It's a bit boring, and the battle of the assets are rather ridiculous. Overall, this will definitely appear to adolescents with their hormones pumping. **1/2