Top 10 Movies of 2009

Happy New Year 2010 to all!!
If there's even anyone out there reading my blogpost... =x

Now that the year has come to an end, it's time to sum up my top 10 movie experiences of 2009!! Hope with this list, I'm able to narrow down your viewings and save you a good load of time...

1. Departures - Beautifully orchestrated
2. District 9 - Rawness at its pinnacle
3. 9 - 9th wonder of the movie world
4. Avatar - Too good to be true
5. Five Minutes of Heaven - Cinematography like you've never seen
6. Taken - Coolness personified
7. In Bruges - Goodness packed wholesale
8. The Reader - Emotionally provoking
9. Seven Pounds - Inspiring and heartfelt
10. Sherlock Holmes - Classic revival

Recommended: Up / Moon / G.I. Joe.: The Rise of Cobra / Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Sherlock Holmes

Rating: 8.3/10

Genre: Crime

Overall rating for money and time: 8.5/10

Sherlock Holmes and his best bud Dr John Watson are an ingenious duo devoted to solving the great crime mysteries of London. They are stumped, however by an equally matched criminal by the name of Lord Blackwood who uses black magic to revolutionize England and possibly the entire world.

The trailer featured Sherlock Holmes explaining his attacks and I was wondering why there was a need - I assumed it would have made the film too exaggerated or lame... But after catching the movie, I had a few pleasant surprises. This movie enhanced the reputation of the great detective we are all familiar with and literally brings him to life, finally. Throughout the entire movie, it glorified the wits of Sherlock Holmes as well as his partner. Actually, almost everyone was awesomely cool in this movie, including the villian.

*spoilers ahead* I didn't expect Rachel McAdams to be an equally witted adversary, had the impression she was just his female companion. This made the pair highly entertaining and interesting to watch as they gradually came to terms with their feelings towards each other. Jude Law on the other hand had an equally major role as Robert Downey Jr. even though the title suggests otherwise. The chemistry between both of the leads were genuinely engaging and applaudable. Fully attributable to the director for a good call and great foresight on the casting.

Extremely convincing performances by the cast members and an exceptional plot to go along with it. I love how we were made to think on the wrong track throughout the movie and have it all being explained at the end of it. Not everything was revealed though, in a good sense as there was promise of a sequel - another ingenious villian to come up against Sherlock Holmes.

What I also liked about the movie is that one gets to experience different genres of it... first, it was a cool crime scene, then it became "Harry Potter-ish" (cause of the magic), it had a hint of "Saw" in it, then turned a little "Psycho" horror (where the villian would "pop" up suddenly) and finally a witty conclusion.

Of course, no movie is perfect. There were some redundant and uncalled-for scenes such as the most impressionable one where Sherlock Holmes was shot in slow motion, braving through the exploding barrels to save his damsel in distress, and the action sequences didn't meet up to my expectations. Still, they did not cause considerable hurt to the movie.

Overall, a revival of a classic and a true gem in crime movies, I'll definitely be looking forward to its promising sequel!!! It turned out to be better than expected and it's a great movie to end the year with!!!

The Treasure Hunter

Rating: 2.2/10

Genre: Action

Overall value for money and time: 0.5/10

A rumoured city of treasures lying in the midst of the northwest desert is supposedly protected by the 'sandstorm riders' led by the 'eagle of the sand'. An immoral group of treasure hunters decided to kidnap the precious daughter of the mapkeeper to force the map over from him...

If there's one word to sum this movie up, it would simply be "Horrendous". There's nothing likeable about the movie, I'm so disappointed with it that I can't even be bothered to get the proper terms of the characters right. After this film, I've decided to stay away from Hong Kong movies for a while and definitely a "NO NO" to any future Kevin Chu's films - I'm surprised he spent so much on publicity and had the audacity to market the line "a Kevin Chu film". One thing's for sure, this movie is extremely damaging to his reputation and he should seriously consider retiring after this...

The 2.2 rating is constituted solely to the casting and CG - 0.8 Jay Chou, 0.8 Lin ChiLing, 0.6 CG. Mind you, it is the very presence of Jay Chou and Lin ChiLing which gives the rating and not their acting, because throughout the movie, the demise of it is also contributed by bad acting. Bad acting on all casts, cheesy and lame scripts, bumpy and illogical storyline (flow was extremely bad) and a total insult to anyone's intelligence and a utter waste of time and money. In the midst of it, I even gave up false laughing and was trying so hard to stay awake. Unengaging, boring and totally uninteresting. Fake, Forced, Flop and Fumbly.

*Spoilers ahead* First off, the mystical beings which were created from "magic" felt so unprofessional and dumpy-like - 2 scenes in particular, one which duelled Jay Chou at the start which showed it moving around like a slow, lost man in armoured suit and the second where the group of sandstorm riders were trying frantically to slow down a moving vehicle. That second scene itself didn't make sense with all the well-organised dynamite bombings even though Eric Tsang supposedly threw them out 1 at a time.

Secondly, there were too many forced, awkward conversations between the two leads which made it feel too cheesy and lame. Absolute bad acting. Even if you're a fan of either, there is no way you can forgive their acting... aggravated by bad scripting and possibly bad directing.

Thirdly, the last scene emphasised too much on the story of Master whatever-his-name-is (Chen Daoming)... almost felt like it was the "real treasure" and made it too drama... and it wasn't even a surprise or a twist cos' it was made so obvious throughout the movie. The rationale of conjuring spirits, possessing Lin ChiLing (making her look utterly ridiculous when the possessed person could have been the Master) and ultimately disintegrating the priced pearl didn't make sense to me.

Flow of the plot was horrible with random lines, random happenings and no follow-up... There was a mummy-like character at the start but he disappeared after that; The chief of the sandstorm riders had a coarse and low voice at the start but after her mask was slashed off (identity disclosed, woohoo, a female!! shocking?? what's the rationale?), no longer put it back on; The immoral treasure hunter met up with his men at some traders market (that convenient?); Everyone entered the city of treasures after a sandstorm (no accountability), sudden unrelated scenes of kid playing spanish guitar in the background during a duel (created a low budget lame feel); flashback to a "lost" drunk/confession scene which no one knew about and wouldn't care about (outrageous flow)... basically, an endless list of "why you should not catch this movie" to prevent ending off the year 2009 with curses and swears.

Without a doubt one of the worst movies I've watched so far, if I could trade my time lost with the same amount I paid for that movie, I would do it 10 times over. Stay away from this movie even if you're a fan of Jay Chou and Lin ChiLing because the only "treasure" you will discover after this movie, is how precious your free time can be...

Avatar

Rating: 9.2/10

Genre: Action Fantasy

Overall value for money and time: 9.9/10

Anyone who misses this movie on the big screens will definitely regret it, unless he/she owns a cinema or has a cinema-like screen in their homes... Let me rap about the cons of the movie before I sing it's endless praises...

Set in a futuristic world where humans have found a scarce resource on the planet of Pandora. However, the ground is inhabited by the native-like "creatures", the Na'vi. A marine is sent undercover to know more about their culture and blend in with them, gain their trust and to persuade them to leave their land so that the humans can "peacefully" take the resuorces and harvest it as their own.

If you haven't caught the trailer, which I highly doubt so since James Cameron is going full throttle on the publicity, then catch the movie fast before everyone else spoils the storyline for you... then again, there's really nothing to spoil. It's as predictable as it can get. You don't need the trailer to unravel the entire storyline for you, from my sypnosis alone, it doesn't take a genius to figure which direction the story would be headed.

A wee bit dialogue-driven from start to middle, since it was to build up on the storyline and evoke our emotions... And in terms of action sequences, it's not that "action packed". The last 30 minutes did hold a good handful of seat gripping action and there was a hint of Lord of the Rings in it.

With that "many" cons, how many pros is needed to balance it out? Well, just one is enough. The cinematography is astounding. State of the art CG - I have no idea what the big hooha is all about the new technology and camera technique/style James Cameron waited 14 years + to materialize... - but from a layman's point of view, simply put: Gorgeous, Beautiful, Heavenly-like CG.

This movie excels in what Blockbuster movies should be: Epic-like, majestic, and total awesomeness. It also has something most Blockbusters don't, which makes this movie a true gem of cinema history - it is able to warp you into the world of Pandora. You see it, you can almost smell it, feel it, and throughout the 2hr 40mins long movie, the director brings you into his made-believe world, his "utopia-like" world with made-belief creatures and plants (holding some features of the animals and plants we see in our world).

I feel it, even more now as I speak of the movie. I want to enter that "world" again, the world of true beauty. Though there are some welcoming additions to the plot, which I will not reveal since I recommend this movie to anyone and everyone out there, and some "deeper" more abstract meaning to the concept and plot of the movie, the one thing which I believe every viewer will bring home with them, is a peace of "heaven" which only one of the greatest directors of all time is able to deliver.

I've read trivia about how the success of this movie will lead to two more sequels of Avatar and I'm exceptionally looking forward to them after a truly great movie experience even though it was at a disappointing cinema. Bad sound system- soft and muffled, which pulls the engagement level down a notch. Even so, it was a great movie experience thanks to the cinematography and CG.

Finally, one of the many things I like about the movie is that there's a new "catch-line" for it. I'm very sure it's going to hang around for the next couple of decades just like Titanic did... Ever wondered what differentiated Titanic from movies like Casino Royale or Godfather? (Not that any of them was bad) Once "Titanic" is brought up, there's a high possibility everyone knows about it and have watched it before... Well, a new era is here; a new highly talked-about movie which will win the heart of millions even billions is finally here... The era for Avatar has descended...

"I see you..."

Nobody To Watch Over Me

Rating: 7.7/10

Genre: Drama

Overall value for money and time: 7.5/10

A movie I had highly anticipated ever since I missed it on the big screens. I've heard about it back then, thought the storyline was so-so and soon realised I could have overlooked a hidden gem of Japanese films. My luck took for a change when I finally found the dvd off the shelves from one of my local movie stores. This is one movie I didn't even hesitate to fork out $17 on it.

Truthfully, that amount spent didn't quite make me feel that it was worth every penny of my dollar... but, ironically, I wouldn't have it any other way - I was burning inside to catch this movie... It didn't quite meet up to my expectations about how heartfelt it would be because the situation portrayed was a little too far-fetched and overboard. It felt fairly unrealistic and one would almost lose hope in humanity after catching it. Are all humans so blinded by anger and "self-righteousness" that they lose themselves?

I highly doubt so, I believe there are a good handful of good people out there. However, due to the outrage of emotions by the public, it somehow brings us "closer" to feeling for the protagonist of the movie.

I have mixed feelings about it, can't really say I love it, and of course, I don't hate it. But it does indeed open our eyes to see, feel and understand the other side of the coin, which usually ends facing the ground, away from sight, away from perceptions.

Enter the lives of the family members of a suspected murderer of two twin sisters. A veteran cop is unwillingly assigned to look after them and to prevent any intrusion of the media or assault from the public. He gradually realises that it's not just the victim's family who are the "true victims"...

Star Trek

Rating: 8.1/10

Genre: Sci-Fi

Overall value for money and time: 7.9/10

You don't need to be a Star Trek fan to appreciate a movie like this. Even though there's a long history of the Star Trek series, this is a stand-alone, comprehen-sive, seat-gripping prequel which will appeal to sci-fi and non-sci-fi fans alike. Trust me, since I'm no fan of Star Wars or Star Trek.

Personally, this movie was able to win my heart more than any previous Star Wars movies. Of course, it's not a fair comparison. But I haven't caught any Star Trek movies before, because somehow, they never did quite appeal to me as much as Star Wars did. Until this movie came along, I would never have bothered to take a second look at Star Trek. To sum it up, this movie is good enough to create a fan out of any sceptics out there.

I have to give all the credit to the actors and especially to the director for delivering and reviving such a sci-fi classic to the younger audience. A good balance of crude humor, cool CG, character as well as plot development. To view it objectively, this movie will easily fall under the top 10 movies of 2009... which I would be counting down very soon (right after my post on probably the last movie I'll catch this year, Sherlock Holmes).

Set in a time where humans worked under the Federation to explore outer space and supposedly bring peace to all. However, this is threatened by a vengeful space renegade by the name of Nero who wants to destroy the planets which belong to the very ones who were the cause of his misery.

Bodyguards and Assassins

Rating: 7.5/10

Genre: Action

Overall value for money and time: 8.7 /10

Who is Sun Yat-Sen? He is the pivotal character in this movie - the one person all the bodyguards and assassins are trying to protect or assassinate respectively. He is the chinese revolutionary and political leader who in the history books, took down the Qing Dynasty and "freed" China.

This movie felt a little like one of those classic chinese movies like the one with the 10 brothers (can't rem the name of the movie) and "Street Fighter" where it featured a star-studded cast. This time, it's like a modern tribute to the biggest stars in chinese cinema (the majority of them). There were lots of cameos of the great names in chinese films, such as ...

I shall hold my horses back as I would greatly recommend this movie to those who have no idea what it's really all about, and hasn't the slightest clue of what to expect. If like I was, all you know about the movie is that its an action film which starred the present martial arts master Donnie Yuen, go catch this movie for a pleasant surprise before everyone else tells you about it.

Well, that was the major reason of the large discrepancy between both of my ratings for this movie. Because at the end of it all, it didn't quite make it for me. The storyline was slow and brought the mood down at times (could also be because I caught a 1215am midnight movie after a long and tiring day), and what I really didn't like about it is how all the great stars, heroes particularly, were portrayed as "Wo Nang" in this movie.

They weren't the cool characters or even your mediocre citizens trying to protect the "future" Father of the nation, instead, they were either outcasted, dim-witted, or detestable. Well, I understand it's the director's intention to make it that way so that it would seem very sacrificial and "Wei Da" at the end but portraying all of them that way whilst making the assassins formidable-like was just too "convenient" for me.

*spoilers ahead* It felt like the character's were too easily and conveniently killed off one at a time at the end due to the lopsided battle and there's basically no seat-gripping intensity or suspense about who was going to survive at the end - it felt more "ok, this character did all he could and sacrificed himself for a greater cause, highly commendable and saddening" instead of "no... no... is he going to... fight them back!! go go!! you can't die."

Perhaps what I'm trying to say is that due to the star-studded cast and the lowly portrayal of the heroes, there's not really a character to feel for since they die off so easily, and the way Donnie Yuen dealt his "finishing blow" was the "epitome" of anti-climaxal.

It's a movie you probably won't want to catch a second time but will probably regret not catching the first.

Inglourious Basterds

Rating: 8.2/10

Genre: Drama

Overall value for money and time: 8.0/10

I'm not a fan of Quentin Tarantino's work, nor am I one who likes Nazi/Jews/War/Soldier movies... Saving Private Ryan didn't quite make it for me, neither did Full Metal Jacket (2 critically acclaimed movies), but... but... "alas", there's always exceptions.

In a Nazi dominated France, a group of american anti-Nazi soldiers tries to infiltrate the Third Reich to assassinate Hitler. This is of course just an overview of the storyline, there are other subplots which contributed to the outcome of the assassination.

What I liked about this film is that it's not typically choreographed - it brings back the cinematography of yester-years. At present, the majority of films are "faster paced", where they throttle scenes quickly to include as many timepoints as possible. This film, however, is "slower paced" and almost every scene lasted at least a good 5-20 minutes - same setting, same characters, same conversation.

Viewing previous Tarantino's work, it seems that he likes to include a good deal of random conversations in his movies, this film is no exception. However, for Inglourious Basterds, somehow the "randomness" of it could link in some sense, which help enhanced one's attention during the dialogue driven scenes. Witty dialogue, loveable characters - even the "villian" was way too cool to hate, but anti-climaxal ending.

If the villian came across as detestable in this movie, the ending might work for you. But in my case, it felt too ironic, and convenient... It did still end with a "deep impression" which I thought was also another unique factor of this film. I shan't spoil the plot for you any further, but would greatly recommend this movie to extreme movie goers out there because it could jolly well fall under your list of top 10 movies of the year 2009, as it did mine.

Terminator Salvation

Rating: 7.8/10

Genre: Action

Overall value for money and time: 7.9/10

Probably the last installment of the terminator series, and surprisingly, a job well-done. Normally, one wouldn't harbor high expectations of sequels, but it seems this might actually turn out to be the 2nd best of all its prequels, with Terminator 2 still ranking as the best Terminator movie I've seen so far.

If you haven't been following Terminator, you might not be able to catch up with the "jargon" of names, but still, the storyline is fairly straightforward. I can't remember much of it either, all I know is that in this sequel, John Connor (the leader of the resistance), whom everyone was trying to save for the past 3 prequels has finally grown up and is finally combating the machine-dominated world.

Then comes his "bodyguard", Marcus Wright, like all the rest of the movies, but this time, his "bodyguard" is more human than cyborg and he fights for his own survival and to understand what was done to him. Imagine a Terminator movie without Arnold, how would the director's still be able to keep it's essence right? That was what I thought initially until I saw Marcus Wright, totally cool, totally refreshing, totally reccommended movie.

*Spoilers ahead* Though the last scene featured "Arnold" in it, governor Arnold *ahem*, I thought it was a cameo appearance, but after reading about it, it was only a computer generated face (younger face) from his past Terminator movies. Still, the CG, acting and storyline will definitely not disappoint!!

Pandorum

Rating: 6.8/10

Genre: Horror Sci-Fi

Overall value for money and time: 6.5/10

Set in the future where humans are on the brink of depleting their last resources due to the overwhelming increase in world population. A new Earth-like planet, Tanis, was found which promises the continual survivor of the human race and a supposed new beginning. It all started with a pair of space shuttle crew waking up from hypersleep and trying hard to recall what their mission was all about.

Well, if one were to watch it and not think back too much about the storyline, it would pass off as a fairly decent horror sci-fi movie. However, if you're one who's obsessed with the "logic" and how the scenes all intertwines to create that almost flawless storyline, then the rating is highly applicable to you. Because for this movie, it just fails to accomplish that.

At the end of the movie, I was rather confused, and upon further reading about the storyline online, I realised the fault lies in the delivery of the plot. There wasn't a clear definition of what was going on, it was all left to one's imagination - in an unsatisfying manner I must add. *spoilers ahead*

Perhaps the most pressing issue I have about the movie is how there was any link between the mutated humans and pandorum. Pandorum is a kind of condition caused by prolonged hyper sleep which creates hallucination and murderous behavior. Well, it was clearly explained in the movie at the start, and how the mutated humans came about was also revealed, but I just didn't see how both linked. Personally, I thought the the most important parts about the movie are the two mentioned above, but they felt like subplots in a movie that was a consequence of finding a new home for humans and nothing else.

And there's another scene which really pisses me off. There featured a cool, agile and skilful warrior who couldn't speak english. He had a duel with the leader of the mutated humans and won. But his throat was slashed by a child mutant. I just didn't get the rationale why the director would kill him off so pathetically and abruptly when he was obviously a good supporting actor. That scene made his life cheap, like he was made used of to kill off the leader and the director didn't want him in the movie anymore, so conveniently got rid him with the seemingly innocent child mutant. That scene just didn't make sense to me...

The opening was seat-gripping, the middle portion kept the suspense growing, but it was the ending which failed the movie. It's not a bad film, just a decently good-concept sci-fi film badly packaged. Acting was convincing, graphics and makeup were realistic, storyline was refreshing yet disturbing, but overall this movie would probably not fall under anyone's top 5 list of sci-fi movies.

Ninja Assasin

Rating: 7.4/10

Genre: Action Slasher

Overall value for money and time: 7.0/10

Raised and trained as a merciless killer in the Yazuka ninja clan since he was a young orphan, Raizo (Rain) must now fight against his brothers and sisters for his freedom. Well, that's the main geeze of it, there's a lot more details but keeping the sypnosis as such will increase the suspense of the movie, though the main bulk of the "suspense" in this movie isn't the plot, but the attack of the ninjas.

This movie didn't quite turn out as I had expected, it wasn't a cool action ninja movie which featured Rain's well-trained body in a short scene. Instead it was a horror, slasher, pretty cool action ninja movie which excessively featured Rain's body throughout the middle of the movie when he trains himself in his dark isolated room as he reminiscence about his past...

And yes, your eyes weren't playing tricks on you, horror slasher. It was so intense whenever the ninjas were planning an assasination that when they appear out of nowhere, they will give you a jump. And after which, that's when the slasher scenes come in. Extremely gory, though animated, it was highly realistic. It's not on the same level as the gore from Saw, where the gore comes from "realistic" situations, it's more like Blood The Last Vampire where there were lots of slashing, splattering of bright red blood and massive dissection of bodies.

With such a flamboyant plot, there were bound to be a good handful of loopholes, or in other words, areas which didn't make much sense. *major spoilers ahead* First off, why were all the ninjas so stealth like (they were able to "teleport") but not Rain, the supposed gifted child who had the potential to take the place of their leader? Instead, he had to be running away on bare feet or even take a car to escape from the rest? Secondly, I'm not sure if I got it right but the first ninja assasin at the opening scene looked like Rain, though supposedly it should be his "brother". Last but not least, the last scene was the most exaggerated. The one where he was finally able to "teleport" and in 1 single shot, defeated the boss. Also, after the entire movie, it feels like humans with displaced hearts wasn't that rare an encounter after all...

Still, it wasn't just an average movie, it excelled in the later scenes of the movie and the entire package did it for me. I would recommend it to Rain fans and ninja lovers, the only advice I would give is don't expect a good match of leads, and expect a horror slasher movie instead of a cool action flick.

2012

Rating: 6.9/10

Genre: Action

Overall value for money and time: 6.0/10

A hypothetical end-of-the-world apocalypse caused by the heating of our earth's core due to the sudden outburst of neutrinos from the sun. And all of this was supposed to happen in, 2012.

Let me cut to the chase here. The only reason for it's fairly "good" rating is because of the effects, it would be unfair to the director for putting so much effort into its CG and have his movie be termed as one of the biggest flop of 2009. That's why I would suggest, don't bother catching it. A huge, huge disappointment for me.

A two and a half hour long movie which covers serveral subplots of different characters trying to survive under the apocalypse. Value for money and time only unless it has a great storyline and believable seat gripping action scenes along the way... Bad cast, bad plot, bad development.

The acting of the different casts didn't seem believable to me, which could either be due to low budget, or just a bad choice of cast selection. There wasn't a single lead cast who shined in his/her role, the only person I could think of, *spoilers ahead*, is the captain of the ship. There wasn't any likability or connection to the characters in the movie, and with the added damage from unconvincing acting, it felt like a "second-rated movie".

The concept of what would cause the end of the world was believable, but the way the protoganists weaved through the chaos of the collapsing buildings and tearing earth was too far-fetched. Everything was too on the brink that it felt almost like an insult to your rationalism, though I understand the director just wants it to be more seat gripping. Everything backfired for the director, he added subplots to make it more involving and "realistic" but it turned out to be too draggy and resulted in the audience being less connected to the characters.

The characters were killed off too "conveniently" and "unengagingly" that you won't even feel your eyes turning sour. This movie feels like its in a world of its own, meant for audiences who belong in that same category and who are able to endure that amount of insult and mediocracy in a movie. If you don't belong in that category, then just give it a pass... it would be more apocalyptic for you to sit through this movie...

Food, Inc.

Rating: 6.8/10

Genre: Documentary

Overall value for money and time: 7.5/10

"You'll never look at dinner the same way again." I was under the wrong impression that this movie was about how we got our food, the behind-the-scenes footages of the cover-up whereby what we eat, is not what we actually think it is. Or perhaps an overload of graphic animal torture scenes that would have you convert to a vegetarian for the rest of your life. Not quite.

Though what we see in this film might be disturbing, it's not centered around the "Asian" context. I'm not saying that it doesn't affect us, but it doesn't spark that much of a "change" impact as opposed to it just being an "awareness" film. The direct lifts the veil on how the food industry has changed over the years, the growing power of food industries and the extend of the control they have over the american citizens and the US government.

Enter the lives of the victims of the dark operations run by the food industries as they try to "silence" and force their victims into poverty and desperation. It's more of a conspiracy film in the food industry and not so much of a food film. Still, it does have good cinematography which makes it more than your average documentary but its packaging, like the food it criticizes, may not be exactly what you expect it to be.

Amalfi

Rating: 7.0/10

Genre: Suspense

Overall value for money and time: 7.6/10

This movie has got to be one of the difficult posters to find online. It's not much of a surprise though, given its low publicity and it being a foreign film. It has the backing of a grandeur set and cinematography, but what I think what it lacks is the publicity and a poor call on its release date - would have turned out to be quite a hit if they included "From the director who brought you Suspect X" in its poster and if it was released on Christmas Eve.

Set in a city in Italy, Amalfi, a Japanese diplomat has just arrived at the Japanese Embassy and is new on the job. However, he's not your everyday diplomat, he later turned out to be an undercover elite (I have no idea where he's really from and where he actually works). Bottomline is, his mission is to ensure the safety of Japan's foreign minister who would be arriving in the city for a meeting in a few days time. However, his mission was compromised when he got himself involved in an unexpected kidnapping of a young girl. All of these was hypothetically supposed to happen on Christmas this year, 2009.

This is a fairly all-rounded movie; it has a suspense-filled plot, a good cast, wonderful cinematography (though it wasn't so much until the later part of the movie) and has a fairly seat-gripping story development. It felt slightly more superior than most suspense japanese thrillers I've caught and I was pleasantly surprised with the ending. It did also leave me, when the credits rolled, a new resolution to make it one of my sightseeing holiday spots in future.

One complain I have about the movie though is the 2 prominent blackout cut scenes which made it seem as if the reel had ended abruptly, either that or the reeler was sleeping on the job. Still, the film was a success and the success of it was hugely owing to the set, but don't get me wrong, everything else wasn't bad, just mediocre, and best still, there's special guest Sarah Brightman at the end!!

He's Just Not That Into You

Rating: 7.2/10

Genre: Romance

Overall value for money and time: 7.5/10

An intertwine of love stories, He's Just Not That Into You deals with both parties in relationships and their perceptions of love, more on the male psyche I feel. I'm not totally agreeable about the content, being a guy myself, but it does touch on some interesting and insightful opinions (I especially like those random interview scenes straight after a point is to be further discussed).

Watching a film with a star-studded cast despite the lack of an outstanding plot was good enough for me. A light-hearted film that will keep you hooked till the very end. There are four main stories in this film; a girl who falls for any guy who picks her up but is clueless about how they really feel about her; a girl who sells advertising but has only been "dating" with guys online; a couple who has been together for 7 years but broke up because the guy had no intention of marrying her; and finally the most complex story with the marriage of a newly wed couple being put to the test with lies and temptations.

I think this film deserves more than what the reviews have rated it. The stories are not as simple as they look, either that or I'm over imagining it. But here's my interpretation of the movie, *spoilers ahead*:

There are great insights into the evolution of online networking websites which act as portals for romance and the "double-edged" invention of the caller ID. The cast made a good point about how it was such a hassle to check all available online portals such as MySpace and emails waiting to hear from a reply from a guy you might potentially spend the rest of your life with, or not. There's a short interview about this girl complaining about the caller ID, about how the guy she was trying to get hold of could just ignore her call by seeing her number flash up on the caller ID.

Though put in a light-hearted manner, it had me thinking about how so many of us depended so much on online portals, not necessarily to find love, but to seemingly "connect" to the world. What was the longest period of time you can stand not checking your emails or even loging onto facebook or msn without feeling uneasy? 2 hours? a day? a week? a month? And I never viewed how caller ID could have a negative effect until now.

Imagine quarrelling with your love ones and when they try to call you back, you look at your phone, know that they are the ones calling, and not pick them up... Now imagine you're the one calling...

Moving away and into the stories proper, the one about the girl obsessing over any guy who picks her up, later gave hope to "fairy tale" endings. Though not common, they still do exist in the world we live in, finding Mr or Mrs Right in the most unpredictable of circumstances.

About the advertising girl, she finally met her Mr Right not via online but actually approaching a guy face to face, tellings us that face to face conversations are still the most sincere. For the one about the married couple, they broke up in the end, her wife being too vent on her husband lying to her over his affair. I mean, I don't see how her husband lying to her about finally quitting smoking tops him coming clean with her about his affair with another woman. It wasn't the later which broke them up but the former, mind you.

That was when I thought, it wasn't so much about the wrongs you commit after marriage, but the inability to keep your promises you made before them that matters. It is the trust in a marriage, and the sexual attraction, crudely put, the sex - as was addressed by the movie, which keeps it going. On another note, it also showed how we can be so fixated on a wrongdoing that we overlook the more important stuffs in life.

Last but not least, my personal favourite, the 7 year couple who broke up cos the guy had no intention of getting married. Right from the start, they appear to be the most miserable, at least the girl appears to be that way. The guy felt like he was just afraid of commitment and came up with an excuse that if two people are in love, it doesnt matter if they're married, all that matters is that the both of them are together.

Throughout the movie, the other stories took a turn for the worse, but the last story showed was consistent throughout. There wasn't another party, it was just them being miserable in each other's absence and how they were there for each other when it mattered. Then, the part about "all that matters is that the both of them are together" flowed back and made more sense.

Out of the countless romantic movies made, there are always those they doesn't appeal to the public, which disappoints. That's the rule. But every once in a while, there are those which might not appeal to others, but is in itself, a gem of its own. That's the exception. And this movie, is the exception.

This is it

Rating: 6.0/10

Genre: Documentary

Overall value for money and time: 6.5/10

Go behind the scenes of Michael Jacskson's expected "This is it" series of sold-out shows in London before his daeth. Before I start, I want to declare that one the reasons why this film didn't appeal to me could be because I wasn't that huge of a MJ fan to start with, as it is not my intended purpose to offend any MJ fans in my review.

This is it, one of the best documentaries of the year. Nope. This is it, a film which will break you down into tears of amazement and grief for the passing of a legend. Nope. This is it, a film which shows the other side of MJ you have never seen before. Nope. This is it, a film about what happens backstage of MJ's (and probably his previous) shows and the hardwork put into it. Yes. Yes. Yes.

There's a lot of reviews saying that this film will expose the "the side of MJ we have never seen before". But after sitting through it, I didn't see it. I didn't see him taking off his "mask", I didn't see his personality unravelling, I didn't get to understand MJ better. What I did learn from this film is that he has an exceptional fan base who is dying to dance with him on stage, and yes, his dancers are one of the finest. Also, featured inside is probably one of the best female electrical guitarist I have ever seen; I get to see the hard work involved in rehearsing and in putting the show together with pyrotechniques and other special effects like an intended 3D hologram; MJ's does not shine in vocals but does so in his stage presence; and that MJ is highly devoted to his music, his performance and those he works with.

The way everyone speaks to him seems too formally polite in the film. In a positive light, either they respect him to their fullest, viewed upon like a royalty, or negatively speaking, they are just pretending to be so, cos he's the one in charge and no one dares to offend him. In my personal opinion, I view it almost hypocritical, for there is a clear definition between being casually polite and overly, formally polite. Of course, I cannot make this comment without backing it up.

The dancers are without a doubt, filled with respect for him (proof from the start of the film). His band, and backup singers, could be either. His director and co-producer of the shows, dubious. No one seems to have a "genuine" conversation with him in the film, it sounded all very "show-focused". There wasn't a single interview with him in the film, and there wasn't a "lighter" side of him which featured him mingling with his dancers, director or band members. All it showed was him was him telling his dancers how the dance moves should be like, making comments about the different songs and how he wants them done. I cannot fathom why that is prevalent in a backstage footage, doesnt backstage footages show the "lighter" side of performers?

Probably the only time he did "connect" with the rest was after performing his songs and the words he spoke soon after, about thanking all of them. But it appeared like he was just speaking to them "all" at a go and not a single one of them at any given point of time.

What I saw in the film, I can safely say that that side of MJ has already been shown through his past interviews and performances. But I did bring home something after the film. I got to re-expose myself to the deeper meaning of his songs, his mannerisms and the amount of respect he receives from those around him.

The Last House on the Left

Rating: 6.8/10

Genre: Thriller

Overall value for money and time: 6.5/10

A remake from the 1972 Wes Craven movie, two teenage girls were kidnapped and brought into the woods by a gang of escaped convicts. Leaving 1 killed and the other raped and supposedly killed off as well, they sought refuge at a nearby house that very same day due to bad weather. Unknowing to them, it belonged to the parents whose daughter was raped...

With a tagline "If bad people hurt someone you love, how far would you go to hurt them back?", one can expect the villians to suffer a terrible and deserving payback... or not. I thought this movie lacked a good number of "enhancers"; enhancers being parts of the movie which should have potentially increased the ratings of it.

First off, the villians themselves, were portrayed fairly vicious at the start, but seemed to simmer down a little throughout the movie. I'm not sure what the cause of it was, prolly due to bad acting, or maybe just that the script was weak, but I didn't feel extremely repulsive towards them. They kinda felt "pitiful" inside... The only scene that really made me scringed for justice was the "torture" scene of the 2 teenage girls.

Secondly, the parents themselves, were not even that vengeful when it came to giving payback to the villians... Actually, they didn't seem to intend it at all, but were forced into those circumstances. If so, why the tagline? On one hand, it felt realistic since her parents are no murderers themselves, but the lack of ability of them handling a 1 on 1 situation was too "feeblish" for me. There wasn't a villian which they had single-handedly wiped out...

Thirdly, *spoilers ahead*, the alliance of the leader's son at the end when he passed the gun over to the parents were totally far-fetched. It's true he left "hints" to the parents on the coffee table (the necklace of their daughter) but why should they ever trust him in the first place? Inching over to take a loaded gun from him while the rest were sleeping in bed was just too risky a scenario... What if the son only pretended to be good? In a real life situation, I don't believe "trust" will be so readily prominent...

All in all, this movie was too mildly "balanced". Both the villians and "heroes" were neither in their extremities and that somehow lowered the intensity of the film. It's the same for the genre of the movie, it falls on the fence between slasher and thriller, and since I've survived a Saw marathon and have caught worst films such as Hostel and The Devil's Rejects in terms of goriness, this movie felt ok for me.

It would have been much better if they had brought the repulsiveness of the The Devil's Rejects and have them taste the payback of the protagonist from Taken. In this case, it's also "balanced" but it's to both extremities...

Since it's such a mediocre movie, I would sit on the fence and confidently say, it's a movie you can give a go or pass but wouldn't regret it either way.

SAW re- VI sited

Rating: 8.2/10

Genre: Slasher

Overall value for money and time: 8.5/10

Checking my previous post in Dec 2007, "Saw Quadrilogy", I realised I didn't review Saw V. Thinking back, I knew what the reason was, it was the least commendable of all its predecessors, causing me to lose interest in future sequels. Upon it's addition, it would only have further decreased its overall ratings. Furthermore, the overall rating was hugely contributed by Saw and Saw II.

I wasn't looking forward to the Saw sequels for I had the idea that the directors were just in it for the money... the storyline was going down, and the making of yet another sequel seemed doomed for disappointment.

Knowing how all the Saw sequels played around with the "timeframe" and predates previous installments, I relished the opportunity to catch a Saw movie marathon by New Paper with my girlfriend and boy I must say, Saw VI rekindles a new found fire.

Just a couple of trivia before I start reviewing this movie which I discovered during the 12 hardcore and gruelling hours we had to sit through during the "godfather" of slasher movies. The director was different for the 1st installment, same for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th, was a different one for 5 as well as 6. The writers were the same for the 1, 2 and 3 but were different for 4, 5 and 6. This trivial point is important in understanding why the plot of Saw experienced its ups and downs...

Saw had an entirely different "feel" compared to the rest, it felt more of an independent film which might or might not promise a sequel. Saw V broke the trend of "awesome" twists with its predictable and anticlimaxal ending. Saw VI had a different approach from the rest in that it no longer dealt with FBI agents, but moved on to a whole new refreshing occupation - insurance agents. Saw II, III, VI all dealt with FBI agents which went a little downhill with the lingering storylines.

Starting from Saw II onwards, the director dropped little hints during the different sequels to pre-emp the audience for followups in the future sequels. Saw II to V basically used the same agents throughout the sequels and Saw V was the one which added new characters to the Saw saga. Saw IV had a flash of the torture coffin used to imprison the protagonist in Saw V and the contents of the box left by Jigsaw for his wife in Saw V was finally revealed in Saw VI, though it wasn't an epic find.

In summary, Saw 1 had it all, the story, the suspense, the acceptable gore, the twist, the ingenuity. Saw 2 kept it's twist, gore and incorporated additional characters. Saw 3 tied loose ends, had too much twists in the end which made it too confusing, hence dropping in ingenuity, but increasing its gore meter. Saw 4 added a whole new level of confusion, at the same time increasing in gore and killing off redundant characters. Saw 5 dropped in almost all aspects: story, suspense, twist, ingenuity but uped once again in gore.

Last but not least, Saw 6 brought honor back to the Saw saga. It had a good amount of twist at the end, killed off redundant characters, had story, had suspense and increased it's gore meter by 2 fold. Goriest Saw sequel up to date has got to be Saw VI. Yet, it had additional elements in it, a refreshing group of victims, refreshing torture challenges which played with moral dilemma and most importantly, the "cool" factor.

Initially, I thought the successors of Jigsaw would never surpass him, in the absence of Jigsaw, the Saw sequels wouldn't be that appealing to the audiences. But Saw VI brought the Saw saga to a whole new level... Jigsaw will soon be the past... the present is now... Hoffman...

PS: I have included the poster for Saw V for completion sake. A couple more interesting trivias, there is a original Saw short movie on youtube.com - Saw 0.5 and one of the writers Leigh Whannell also co-stars as Adam in Saw and Saw III.

Tim Burton Productions

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Rating: 7.6/10
Genre: Animation
Overall value for money and time: 8.0/10

Revisited this 1993 production which was a pivotal movie in Tim Burton's career. Now I see why it was so outstanding. The pumpkin king, Jack Skellington grew tired off his boring Halloween Town and chanced upon Christmas Town while wondering in the woods. There, he found what was lacking inside of him, joy and purpose. Thus, he gathered all his towns' monsters in hope of taking over Christmas.

This animation created a new genre of animations, "puppet-like" animations. The director was able to bring out the novelty of such a concept and revolutionized them by creating his very own characters and score for the movie. It wasn't just an animation, it was a dark, musical animation with a good storyline and imagination. Though its a classic masterpiece, it's not my cup of tea. Comparing it to his most recent animation production, "9", the later had more depth in the plot but the former does exceed "9" in terms of entertainment value.

Especially loved the classic scene with the couple advancing towards each other on a slanted cliff with a big yellow moon in the backdrop. Enter a light hearted, darkly comic, imaginative world of what makes Halloween, and what makes Christmas, truly Christmas.

Corpse Bride

Rating: 6.8/10

Genre: Animation

Overall value for money and time: 6.5/10

A groom-to-be fails to make his vows due to nervousness and "accidentally" asks a corpse bride to be his wife while practising in the graveyard. Unable to break his promise, he must find ways to get back to his "living" wife.

The musical aspect of Tim Burton's productions are kept, as well as the creativity of the characters. Though it does have an original plot, this animation somehow lost its appeal to me. What was outstanding about this movie is the score itself, the piano piece to be exact but the story progression felt a little haphazard. Using a similar ending review from the Nightmare Before Christmas:

Though this movie lacked the additional spice of romance in it, prepare yourself to enter a light hearted, darkly comic, imaginative world between the living and the dead.

Coraline

1. Rating: 7.5/10
2. Genre: Animation
3. Overall value for money and time: 7.7/10

With the sub-heading, "From the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas", it gave me the impression that this movie was another Tim Burton productions. However, it was directed by Henry Selick, and checking imdb.com, I realised that Tim Burton only produced Nightmare Before Christmas but not direct it.

Initially, I was surprised that Coraline didn't have the musical element in it, but later realised why it was so. Still, it was a great movie which opens your eyes once again to a highly imaginative world. It holds some essence of Alice in Wonderland and looking at Tim Burton's next movie production "Alice in Wonderland", I can only spectulate the friction arising between the 2 directors.

A bored girl by the name of Coraline finds the "perfect" world on the other side of a door which she found in her new house, with magic in the air and loving parents, she gradually falls prey to the ruler of the other world who wants to claim Coraline as her own.

This animation has it's own unique qualities, it's not as dark as the rest, and though it's "unfair" to compare it to the previously mentioned animations since this movie was not produced by Tim Burton, it being a "puppet-like" animation falls perfectly in its category. Throughout the movie, there were a good number of scenes which made it feel very fairytale like, enhanced by the score and cinematography.

Alas, the plot felt too rushed and everything ended too conveniently. Apart from that, it's another light-hearted, darkly comic, imaginative world on what lies on the other side of the door, on the other side of our world.

Crank Duology

Overall Rating: 5.5 /10

Genre: Action

Overall value for money and time: 4.5 /10

The first installment is about a professional assasin who was injected with a deadly chinese poison that would kill him if his heart rate drops. The sequel shows him being a lab rat and having his heart replaced by an artificial heart, which needs constant electrivity boosts to keep him alive.

The overall rating is highly contributed from the sequel. When I first heard of the sypnosis, I leaped at the opportunity to finally catch Crank. I mean, what could go wrong with such a novel concept and with Jason Statham in it? I found my answer... the directing. It didn't work for me. Both movies almost felt like I was watching another House of the Dead, where there's abrupt scenes of video games popping up throughout the movie. Made it feel cheesy, cheap, and unprofessional. Almost also feels like The Forbidden Kingdom, a "kiddo" director trying to live his dream by directing a movie...

Fortunately, I was able to convince myself to complete both movies and the sequel, though equally irritating with the video games scenes, was slightly better in terms of creativity - the sources by which Jason Statham would recharge himself. The ending was lame... expectedly, and assured a 3rd installment, which I might finally give it a pass....

The Hurt Locker

Rating: 7.4/10
Genre: Suspense Drama
Overall value for money and time: 7.5/10

An elite US bomb squad stationed at Iraq has only 39 days to their next rotation. The recent death of their squad leader is replaced by the seemingly reckeless Staff Sergeant Will James. Can they survive the mahem?

The movie holds a good amount of suspense, as each bomb uncovered could potentially result in a major disaster. The opening and ending scenes were strong in enhancing the characters developments and hence the overall rating of the movie. There were a handful of scenes which would not please the tight scrutiny of some, but in terms of buildup, plot, casting and suspense, this movie would certainly satisfiy most.

Initially, I didn't see where the movie was heading towards as it reached a plateau somewhere in the middle, but the ending did provide a good closure. I liked how the protagonist returns to his mandane daily life where he's just an ordinary guy living in an ordinary world and becomes a "hero" again when his next shift starts. Though superb in most senses, there was something unexplainable about the movie which was unable to blow me away.

Until the very end, I was still puzzled about the rationale of the title as it was not discussed or even mentioned throughout the movie. I could only assume that the protagonist and his squad members had to "lock the hurt" inside when they returned to their daily lives, for the stuff they do, the dangers involved, where life is cheap, the possibilty of being blown up anytime is neglected and left unappreciated by most of the US citizens...

Surrogates

Rating: 6.6/10
Genre: Thriller
Overall value for money and time: 6.2/10

This is the new age of cinema... "surrogate-like control". This movie bears an uncanny ressemblance to Gamer. Not sure which movie was surrogated, but since Gamer came out first, I would only assume it's the later. Imagine a world where "humans" walking the streets are all surrogates, being controlled by another human. They may or may not look like the original persons, but the "utopia-like" world was threatened when the first homocide occurred after the reign of surrogacy.

Not only was the surrogate murdered, the user suffered the same fate as well. This led to the concern of the prime surrogate organisation and the police force, leading to the unfolding of conspiracies... What I liked about the movie was the lead actor, Bruce Willis and how the director made the surrogates look less human with the CG - there was a clear distinction between surrogates and real humans. What I didn't like about the movie was the pace and the lack of action scenes in the movie. What I'm neutral about it is the "love story" and the twist in the ending which wasn't that fantastic in the first place.

Overall, a fairly decent movie but not one to leave you at the edge of your seats. Was rather disappointing for me as the story and casting didn't bring it a notch higher. It's almost like a normal tasting plate of chicken rice bought from a well-known chicken rice stall...

The Ugly Truth

Rating: 7.3/10
Genre: Comedy
Overall value for money and time: 7.0/10

While I would love to insert "romantic" into the genre, I would be lying to you if I did. Either that, or I just have a high tolerance for romanticism. This movie is all about the art of courtship - in particular courting men. Gerard Butler stars as a host on a talk show about the "ugly truth" where he teaches his audience (mostly single females) about the differences between the sexes and how to go about getting the guy of their dreams.

Single, traditional and dominating TV producer Katherine Heigl was on a verge of losing her programs when her boss employs Gerard Butler to feature the segment on her show. This resulted in an increase in viewer ratings which "forced" her to work with him... and subsequently advice from him on getting the man of her dreams.

What lies ahead is the typical storyline and if you're in for a good laugh, this movie is for you. Crude humor, might even be vulgar at times but with an open heart, and an open mind, this movie won't go wrong with a long term date, though I'm not sure if it will work just as well for first dates...

Thirst

Rating: 6.8/10
Genre: Thriller

Overall value for money and time: 6.5/10

A devoted Priest volunteers himself for an experiment to develop a vaccine for a flesh-eating virus, the Emmanuel virus. He was the only survivor of the experiment and was worshipped as a Messiah. However, circumstances turned for a twist after his return when he started craving for human blood, and falls prey to one of the greatest sins of humans - lust.

I wouldn't categorise this movie as horror since it didn't pack much, if not any horror scenes in it. What it did have was gore, humor and erotism. It started off slow, unravelling the Father's altruistic character, but gradually succumbing to inner desires. He had an affair with his friend's wife and together plotted to kill her husband.

If that doesn't make you queasy enough, just wait till you get to know the wife. Like the director Chan-wook Park's previous hit movie Oldboy, I would have to admit this movie is weird and highly disturbing, but the ending did save it. Oldboy's plot was still much better but this movie will nevertheless leave you pondering about it after the credits roll. It was a tragic love story, and until the very end, it was still dubious whether the wife really did love the protagonist.

It nearly reached a standstill when the adulterous couple started trapping their "preys" and at that point I wondered how it was all going to end. Though it wasn't a novel ending, it did create a closure for the movie. One thing's for sure, you wouldn't thirst for more after this movie...

9

Rating: 9.0/10

Genre: Animation Drama

Overall value for money and time: 9.4/10

Highly underrated, highly unappreciated. This movie deserves more than what the critics have called it. It packs a stronger theme than any other animations I have ever watched. I highly recommend catching it without reading the sypnosis. In a sentence: It's a film about a newborn creature, 9 who tries to find meaning in its existence.

For a fuller sypnosis, *warning spoilers ahead*:

A dark animation film which takes place in a hypothetical yet potentially possible era where machines have gradually reduced the human race to extinction. The creator of 9 puppet-like figures have finished his final work before dying and when 9 awakened, it was up to him to tie the loose ends of this new world in which he was "born" into.

It started off with great suspense, and from the synopsis I have provided above, you'll have no problem trying to follow the movie with much ease. However, the ending packs an intelligent twist which will surely sweep you off your feet, like it did mine, and it further linked and reinforced the storyline. I'm not too sure if the director did really have the upcoming "ideas" in mind but I am convinced that it's not your average animation - the director did put much thought into it.

There might be some references to the creator of the 9 beings trying to be "God himself", and how he created new life into the world, the beginning of a new civilisation (portayed at the end). While most of the movie is almost perfect, there isn't a movie without its flaws. A couple of them include the ambiguity of the ending scene and the questionable "artifact" which was missing link in the activation of the "brain".

*Major spoilers ahead* 9 of the beings made up parts of the creator's soul. When 9 was completed, it was the creator's last ounce of soul left in him, leaving him dead on the floor. The creator was an ingenious scientist who created the "brain", which was the very first machine which had the ability to manufacture more machines without human intervention. When the military intended to abuse the "brain" and cast the scientist out, it caused the "brain" to revolt. It caused an uprising and a war between humans and machine, and humans were all wiped out. The scientist realised that the "brain" lacked "humanity", which was the missing link in making it "good", so he used an artifact to drain out pieces of his soul in hope that they will bring peace to the world.

9 woke up with the scientist dead on the floor, found the artifact and carried it around with him, until it fell into the hands of the machines. One of the underlings brought it back to the "brain", inserted it into the deactivated "brain" and caused it to come to life again. The artifact acted as a portal to transfer soul into an inanimate object - in this case the machines and puppet-like beings.

What I didn't understand was when the ending disclosed the 9 beings being part of the scientist's soul, and the machine had already by then absorbed 5 of them, it felt like all the other 4 had to do was to sacrifice themselves to the machine which would make it human. But that was not how it ended, strangely. I could have been misled by the explanation or the explanation wasn't clear enough in the movie itself. Also, if "brain" was inactivated all along, then where did all those machines come from? One possibility is that the underlings were all made before the uprising and when humans finally managed to detach the "brain" from the artifact, it somehow found its way into the hands of the scientist and he started creating the 9 beings.

Moving away from the ambiguities of the movie, now's here the best parts of it. When 9 found the rest of the beings, 8, 6, 5, 2 and 1, they were separated, or more accurately seggregated from 7, 3 and 4. 1 was portrayed as the leader who in the guise of protecting the rest sacrificed those who threatened his own existence. 6 was the crazy one who scribbled werid symbols on his drawing blocks; 5 was the cowardly one, 2 was the old man who asked lots of questions, and 8 was the big macho brainless one. 7 was the only female, with great dexterity and agility; 3 and 4 were twins that were the brainy ones. Analyzing the characteristics of each one of them, it came to my realisation that it was all well planned on the director's part.

1 - ego

2 - inquisitive

3,4 - brainy scientists

5 - fearful

6 - creative

7 - feminine

8 - masculine

9 - humanity

It all made sense to have them in this order, where the scientist had to lose his ego first to save mankind. When he created the "brain", it was the most significant creation in human history but after realising that it was a mistake, he started to find a way to save civilisation. All 9 were charactistic of a typical male persona, and since he was a scientist, he had 2 numbers to dominate that trait of being brainy and intelligent. There's a feminine side to every guy and 7 denotes it. 8 was the masculine figure which was impulsive and didn't think much, and there was this scene where he put a magnet over his head several times. It didn't quite occur to me the reason until further analysis, that that was a subliminal way of illustrating "pleasure or desire".

Last but not least, 9 was the last of the scientist's soul, which was the last piece of humanity left in him, to save his own kind and was fueled by emotions and altruism. That's not all, the seggregation also made sense. 3,4 and 7 were the parts which didn't belong to the pact most, and how 1 was able to manipulate and be in control of the other numbers which had no desire to be independent.

There were shocking moments, funny moments and awesome state of the art CG. It's almost as perfect an animation can get for the matured audience and for those who loves thought provoking movies. Truly one of the best movies of the year! I could easily watch this 9 times!!!

Gamer

Rating: 6.4/10
Genre: Action
Overall value for money and time: 6.5/10

A futuristic movie where convicts on death row get an opportunity for freedom once they survive 20 gruelling rounds of violence. However, they are not in control of themselves, instead, their movements, weapons and equipments are all determined and controlled by other humans. It's pretty much a virtual reality game, where you control real humans and determine if they live or die.

The action scenes did not live up to expectations, and the camera shots were downright nauseating and irritating. Though it was intended to make it feel as if they were really in a video game, the static screen and the messy camera angles put me off a little. Most of the action scenes were presented in the trailer, and though there was effort put into developing a storyline to this seemingly brainless action packed movie, it didn't quite work for me. Movies of similar plots have been made such as Condemned and Death Race, but the novelty of this movie (whereby humans are controlled by humans) wasn't enough to blow me off my seat.

The concept of the technology was brilliant, but the execution was doomed for failure. It kinda reminded me of another movie, Push - good concept, but movie didn't bring out the full essence of it. Though I rated it low, I didn't regret watching it because my curiosity will never be satisfied until I've experienced the disappointment firsthand.

District 9

Rating: 9.2/10

Genre: Sci Fi Action Drama

Overall value for money and time: 9.4/10

With this season seeing some of the greatest movies of all times, such as The Cove, Moon, and Up, it's difficult to say for sure which is the best. One thing for sure is that District 9 is my favourite.

There is no movie quite like District 9, it's reminiscence of the current trend in cinematographic techniques - mainly a documentary, hand-held like style. However, it's not entirely consistent throughout the movie, more so for the opening, and the ending. The plot is well developed and the appropriate use of the cinematography style and unknown casts added more credibility and realism to this movie.

20 years after a group of aliens named the "prawns" landed on earth and sought refuge in District 9, Johannesburg, they are forcibly evicted by a munition organisation called MNU (multi-national united). Wikus van der Merwe, the leader of the team and son-in-law of MNU's CEO, exposes himself to a strange alien liquid which gradually transforms him into a "prawn". Now, being hunted down by the very organisation he served for and the human African syndicate which operates inside District 9, he must find a way to save himself before he fully transforms into a "prawn".

Unlike most highly CGed movies, this movie is shot almost entirely in broad daylight, making the "prawns" look life-like, down to its very details. There is a considerable amount of gore in it, but not enough to put you off, and the acting of the casts were highly convincing. The only drawback about this movie is probably a handful of cheesy lines along the way, but apart from that, it's almost as flawless as it can get.

*Warning: Spoilers Ahead* Everything about the movie was well thought of, well planned, and well structured. While the movie might not have an unpredictable storyline, it sure doesnt have a cliffhanger ending. It is a rounded standalone movie even though it promises a sequel, without a doubt "District 10". The rationale of filming the movie on location at Johannesburg, South Africa was puzzling to me at first. But upon discussions with my friend, I realised that the reason for District 9 being in South Africa was to make it more believable for the cannibalism of the human African syndicate.

Basically, there was a 3 sided "warfare" between the "prawns", MNU and the African syndicate. Both human parties have one common goal, to capture Wikus so that they can make use of him to operate the alien ammunitions, which require alien DNA. With MNU wanting to cut him up, and the leader of the African syndicate wanting to consume him, Wikus has only 1 option to keep himself alive, seek refuge and help from the "prawn" leader, Christopher. It's not quite the "warfare" for the "prawns" as Christopher tries to make peace with both sides.

We are finally exposed to the "softer" side of aliens; whereby aliens have always been depicted as the villians and having all the state-of-the-art weaponry, this movie depicts the truth behind the egoistic reality of humanity. The "prawns" are equally as vulnerable as us humans and they are the victims in this movie. One of the puzzling parts of the movie is where I didn't understand why the "prawns" didn't just use all their powerful weapons to kill the humans that were hunting them down.

Then the sad hypothesis came to light: Christopher understands that they are the "intruders" of our planet and does not want bloodshed. All he wants is to peacefully bring his "people" back to the mothership and leave Earth. Despite being tortured and misunderstood, he holds true to his honor in silence. It just shows the magnamity of a true leader, and how the greed of humans is the actual cause of all the problems. One would not stand on the side of humans for long, as the movie gradually progresses, we are slowly exposed to the true villainy of human greed.

The ending packed a bang as well, showing our protagonist finally being more "prawn" than human. This movie is a true gem shadowed by its lack of media publicity. Therefore, I couldn't recommend it more to anyone and everyone out there to catch this movie at a cinema near you, before District 9 turns 10.