Thursday, April 30, 2009

Movie Review - X-Men Origins : Wolverine


One of this year's most anticipated movie is finally out yesterday in Jakarta and being someone who cannot resist the temptation of a possibly good movie, I've went to the cinema alone today to catch this box office hit. And now I can't wait to write the review (please take note that I have an exam tomorrow but it's 5p.m here and since I don't do books at this hour... I guess blogging wouldn't be much of an issue right?)

This movie is basically about how Wolverine came to be... how he got the adamantium in his skeletons (I always thought it was in his blood streams... lol), he's real pasts with Sabretooth and how he lost his memories. But the most important thing is why he changed his name from Logan to Wolverine. I'm not going to do spoilers here because I totally despise anyone who tells me how a movie goes before I watch the movie myself, so I'm just going to leave the synopsis at that.

There are definitely pros and cons in this movie but I guess I'm going to start with the
pros first.

  1. I totally love the idea of Gambit finally appearing in an X-Men movie franchise since he's my favorite character in the whole lot... and his stunts are just amazing... I just wish they would show more of Gambit in action with his cards but I guess we're gonna have to wait for "X-Men Origins : Gambit" for that...
  2. Hugh Jackman is such a great actor in this and man his body was smoking hot!
  3. I totally love the opening of this movie... it's very different from other comic based movies because the crew somehow made the opening looks like a moving comic strips with amazing effects.
  4. The plot is fantastic. I love how the story develops from one to another... how they connect the missing pieces together with unexpected twists here and there.
  5. The fighting scenes are definitely something you won't complain about after leaving the theatre.
  6. I'm always baffled on how they do castings in Hollywood because the guy who played Mr. Logan Sr. totally looks like he inherited 90% of his genes to Hugh Jackman.
  7. The movie length is just right... not too long and dragging like Watchmen and not too short like the first two Harry Potter movies.
So now, there are only two things I don't like bout the movie but to me the cons are pretty important:
  1. The one thing that really disappoints me was the low quality of special effects in the movie. I never thought that a big budget movie made for 2009 would still have that green screen driving scene and man those views looked fake. In overall, the special effects team looks like they've just learn how to create effects from green screen and there were actually plenty of those green screen effects scenes in the movie.
  2. They should have really substituted the actress playing Kayla because she can't act at all. She's pretty alright but she's supposed to be the one who brings up the emotions in the movie and man she failed terribly.
There were also some shockers from the movie (well at least I was shocked):
  1. I cannot believe Daniel Henney is actually in this movie! He definitely made a huge leap from a Korean drama actor to a Hollywood star.
  2. I was really shocked with Ryan Reynolds's transformation in here. He always played the boy next door or loser kind of characters but in here he totally transformed himself into a superhero! He got so buffed that it actually took me a while to realize that it was him.
Overall, this movie deserves an 8 out of 10 and it's really worth watching especially if you are an X-Men fan.

Signing out for now~

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Music Obsession Part 2

I have always had a peculiar taste in music and I usually love songs that have great lyrics and/or good melody. But to me an artist can only be considered great if he/she sounds good live. An artist doesn't have to have a voice like Josh Groban or Whitney Houston but he/she should definitely sound the same live as how he/she sounded on the studio recordings. This is why I hate fake artists who rellied to much on the computers to make them sound good.

So, being someone who judges artists from their live performances, I have went on a Youtube quest of finding artists that sound great on live performances and have made a list of them. Here are the awesome videos of my favorite live performances and you'll notice that I actually prefer the acoustic cover of a song rather than the originals.

(This list is not in any particular order)

1. Aly and AJ - Potential Break Up Song



This is actually a shocker for me because I never thought Aly and AJ could sing so well live! Because let's face it, it's pretty hard to find Disney's teen stars who can actually sing and these sisters have definitely put a higher standard to Disney's stars quality.

2. Avril Lavigne - Nobody's Home



I remember listening to Avril's live performance when she first came out with "Complicated" and thought it was bad. But after listening to this... I've gotta say... Avril... you rock girl!

3. Dashboard Confessional - Vindicated



This is another shocker for me. I was really blown away by this performance.

4. Demi Lovato - Don't Forget



Like Aly & AJ, Demi is another Disney born teen star who can actually act and sing... (I just think her make up is too much though...)

5. The Fray - How to Save a Life



Love his unique voice and style...

6. Jason Mraz - Make It Mine



Jason doesn't need much to make a great performance... his guitar and his voice are just a perfect unbeatable duo...

7. Lenka - The Show



I just love Lenka and her cute voice... her songs are awesomely cute too

8. Lifehouse - Storm



This performance just took my breath away... he's just armed with a guitar and his voice and that's all it takes to left the crown breathless

9. Maroon 5 - Won't Go Home Without You



I totally adore Adam Levine... He has everything - great looks and an amazing talent... I have always loved his voice and with this prove... I guess I always will...

10. My Chemical Romance - Famous Last Word



This performance is an undeniable prove that MCR does sing live...

11. Pink - So What



I've always love Pink... and with this... I love her even more

12. Simple Plan - Perfect



I don't think that Simple Plan has a mind blowing voice... but to hear them just the same as they are on CD is just amazing

13. Taylor Swift - White Horse



Taylor Swift if definitely my recently favorited artist. She's just an amazing song writer and sounds great live... it's a good thing she broke up with Joe Jonas...

14. Lady Gaga - Just Dance



She might be a little short fused here and there... but she's definitely a great perfomer...

15. Yuna - Rocket



I would like to finish this list with our very own Malaysian artist. Yuna definitely blew me away... Her level of performance and the quality of her songs are simply at an international level... she's definitely on her way to superstardom... you go girl!

So there you have it... another one of my self made list and hope you enjoyed it...

Signing out for now...

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Criminal Minds S04E21 : A Shade of Gray

Finally after 2 weeks break... CM has returned! This time with another great case... since episode 20 was a real mind blower for me, I was practically enthralled about this episode...



Before I write any further... I've gotta warn you of the spoilers alert!

So here's my review:

The episode started of with a pretty much chaotic situation.. everyone one was chasing times but the audiences are left clueless of what the case was really about... then comes the news conference and its really heart breaking to watch parents having to beg for their child to be returned (like the ones in season 3 episode 5). So it's been revealed that there have been two cases already where young boys are being abducted from their own room, sexually assaulted and finally killed. And now another boy is missing and the team is running out of time.

My favorite part of the episode is when Emily noticed that the parents have been holding hands ever since the BAU worked on the case and realized that the parents were hiding something because partners who had just lost a child would blame each other and stay away from one another. This to me is a surprising fact to learn.

Though this episode was pretty predictable once you get half way through, it still did not fail to surprise me. My first shocker was when they found the little boy dead in the woods. I know I should have expected that but still I hoped they would find the kid alive. Another shocker was the ending in which Emily told the parents that the older brother stuffed toy plane parts down his brother throat. As much as this was a shock for me and almost everyone who watched this episode... it was a very disturbing thing to learn.

So overall... this episode deserves a 9 out of 10 for an outstanding plot and great acting from the whole cast...

Signing out for now...

hipity hipity hop~

Friday, April 24, 2009

New Layout!

So I was browsing through some layouts for blogger.com and finally found the right one for me...

Some may call it pretty boring but to me this is just perfect...

Not too loud, simple yet eye catching...

But most of all, I love it because it makes my blog looks like a webpage...

What do you think?

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The Longest....

Thought I would like to share some knowledge I gained today... not the ones I learned in lectures though because they would either bore you or disgust you or worse, create a paranoia in you... but rather a pretty interesting fact (at least I think so...)

So... for the delight of my readers... i present to you....

(*drum roll*)

List of the longest word/name in the history of mankind!

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the longest name of a city in the world belongs to non other than the real name of Bangkok or in a shorter Thai version "Krung Thep"... yes... you read it right... Bangkok has actually the longest city name in history and here's the prove:

Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit

which translates into

The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn

Seems like the name itself is a history on its own

The next on the list is the longest name of a disease I've found which is also the longest technical word in dictionaries... and the award goes to:

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

You can pretty much know about the disease from the name itself... and if you guessed right... it's actually a lung disease caused by inhalation of silica dust... talk about the great mystery of the medic world...

The next one is nothing compared to the other names you've read above but it's the most pure of all. It's considered the longest word in the English language that is not coined or has technical meaning... and it's non other than:

Antidisestablishmentarianism

It's meaning? Well, it's a 19th century British political position that opposed the status of Church of England as the state church of Ireland and Wales. Imagine how big the door sign was like.

Next two are my favorites...

The longest name of a place in the US... and it's a lake in Webster, Massachusetts... here's the name:

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

It translates into
"Fishing Place at the Boundaries... Neutral Meeting Grounds". And since the name is to long to pronounce... it is more known to locals as the Webster Lake.

The last one is the name of a mountain in New Zealand which tells a story of its own:

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu

which means...

"the place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as 'landeater,' played his flute to his loved one."

So there you have it... some of the longest names and words in the world and mine you there's more! A lot more actually. And to top it off... I'm going to blow your mind with the name so long, I can't really post it in my blog because it has the whopping 189,819 letters and you can find the word here

http://othyr.com/titin.html

Hope this will make your day and helps you wow the crowd that need "wowing"

Out for now

hippity hippity hop

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Happy Birthday Dear Mummy


Today on April 20th 2009... my beloved mother is officially 56 years old and still going strong! Throughout the years, she's never admitted defeat though life might seem a little bit tough at times... being a single mother who's been raising me since nine years ago has definitely wore off her energy more than necessary... but she never complained.. not even once...

She has this so much faith in me that one day I'll become a successful doctor and that has kept her strong through the tough times... she never doubted my ability when I doubted myself and she always give me courage to move forward when I feel like giving up...


She's my courage, my strength and one of my reasons for living...


On this special day... I would like to wish my mother, Hajjah Rokiah Ab Samat, a great birthday and a wonderful year! May Allah bless you always with joy, courage, wealth, strength and health... I love you so much Mom!


So... Happy Birthday again...

not the "blow-out-the-candle" happy...

or the "I-got-a-big-present" happy...

but the "I-could-not-wish-for-a-better-mother" happy...

that happy...

that special...

especially for you...

I love you!


My Latest Music Obsession

Just about a week ago I decided to browse through my ipod and see just whatever songs and movies I've put in it. To be honest with you there are more than 200 songs that I've never listened to in my ipod and I just have them there because I was simply copying songs from my friends folder into mine. But because of a recent incident (which I've deleted my whole entire English songs playlist from my Ipod!), I've decided to get more organized. Time to put in the album artworks and lyrics for each songs so that I can have a perfect playlist.

This organizing has cost me most of my times. Mine you.. I have over 500 english songs in there and I'm only at song #254... still a long way to go but I've gone through half of the playlist and I'm not stopping now... but since I have hundreds of other non-English songs in my ipod, looks like I'm going to have them remained unorganized... why you ask? Well... first of all it's because it's so hard to find the album artworks and lyrics for non-English songs, especially the Japanese and Korean songs I love so much... and second... there's so little about them in the web especially if you type the band or artist name in Roman letters which brings me back to point number 1...

So... that's that...

Anyway... I was listening to the songs when I realized I have downloaded an entire Kyle XY Soundtrack album (illegally though and I'm not proud of it *_*) and found the real reason I downloaded it... the songs are awesome! I did not realized they actually played the songs in the show but who could blame me.. when you're looking at Matt Dallas, no song can capture your attention... no matter how great o.0

And now after listening to the entire album... I can't stop! And there's one particular song that really gets to me... It's simply titled "Alibis"and is sung by a great underground band called Marianas Trench... the lyrics and music are simply perfect... and the vocalist is totally awesome...
So here is a video from Youtube and lyrics to the song... Hope you like it..

Enjoy!



From the scrapes and bruises
To the familiar abuses
I'll kick and scream but it never changes anything

I could spill my guts out
Wearing my best little girl pout
And I almost missed it
But nobody said that this was gonna be easy

This is not the man I hoped to be
And I'm just trying to stop the bleeding
I don't know how to word it
I just started to deserve it
And all my, all my faces are alibis
And me, I'm half the man I wanted to be

Most times it all comes out wrong
I don't know the words but I'll hum along
There's nothing familiar here anymore
to anyone or anything left to feel alive

And I still taste that sickness
And it makes me crazy without it at best
But I'm in the same place I used to be
But I'm trying harder not to be

This is not the man I hoped to be
And I'm just trying to stop the bleeding
I don't know how to word it
I just started to deserve it
And all my, all my faces are alibis
And me, I'm half the man I wanted to be

So what am I? What am I? So What Am I?

And all my, all my faces are Alibis
This is not the man I hoped to be
And I'm just trying to stop the bleeding
I don't know how the words go
I just started not to say no

Don't want it, Don't get it
I know you won't regret it
Don't surface, Don't surface
And I feel so damned worthless
Another day is gone and all my faces are alibis
all my faces are alibis

and me, I'm half the man I wanted to be

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Back in action...

It's been so long since I posted a blog... if you ask me why... i can't really tell you.

Perhaps it was a writer's block (not that I write much) or maybe I just lost interest in blogging for a while... but no worries now... guess I'm back in action though I'm not sure for how long... lol....

So.. let's see... what am I going to post for today??

I've been thinking of how the comeback should be like... and here are a few ideas:

1. publicizing myself to others?? .... a definite NO NO... I'm not the type who craved for attention... what a pathetic life that would be don't you think?

2. Write reviews on shows that I've watched... this might come into consideration... because FYI... I watch 4 shows on weekly basis and to discuss about shows that I enjoyed tremendously would be a great idea...

3. Write just about anything... be spontaneous... and I'm loving this idea... :D

So...

in the end... I think I'll be random with everything that I post in the future... my future post could be just about anything... a cat, a TV show, a leaf, a plant... just about whatever that comes to mind... and please understand that I'm blogging again because I can feel that my talent in writing is slowly declining...

signing out for now...
 
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