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Thursday, November 24, 2005

Movies of names: Harry Potter, Chicken Little & Emily Rose







Here are reviews on movies about characters, and I'd like to begin with Harry Potter:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is by far the best of the four Potter movies. Facts have shown that box office takings have dropped down for each new Potter releases. But I bet that's going to change, now that the 'Goblet' surpasses all three before it (in terms of quality and the 'it' factors).

True, the book itself is darker and more sinister. But, who would have thought the 'romantic' director, Mike Newell (who gave us Four Weddings And A Funeral and Mona Lisa Smile) could transfer the imagination that we have while reading the book to the silver screen (almost) perfectly (hey! nothing's perfect).

It is very well paced, funnier, scarier, with good continuity (unlike the 3rd and especially the 2nd parts where the directors seemed to be 'jumping' a lot), newly added cast (big names like Ralph Fiennes, Brendan Gleeson and Miranda Richardson) and stronger performances from the rest, especially the main young actors.

It is said that the total costs of production is higher than all three Lord of the Rings combined. I think, apart from funding the costs of creating superb special effects, maybe large sums of money goes to paying those talented actors (which are a handful).

GO SEE THE MOVIE, although for those who have not watched or read Potter books before, might get a bit clueless!

Chicken Little - hmm, some may find Chicken Little is so adorably cute. But that's about it. A movie can't survive or becomes a classic by just relying on the cuteness of a main character alone !

It's rather obvious that Disney was rushing into making Little, perhaps trying to prove the world that they too can create movie animation like this, without relying on Pixar. As a result; the movie is a bit stale, the jokes that 'Runt of the Litter' utters, sometimes sound overly done and slapstick while the storyline is unoriginal and a bit ridiculous.

The conclusion: people will go to the movie and catch Little. But when it comes to DVD collection, especially after a few years have gone by, people will still opt for Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles instead. While Little just waits there on the shelves. People might even wonder or say "Chicken what?" "What is Little?" or "What was the story about again?"

Meantime, if you want to catch The Exorcism of Emily Rose based on its marketing gimmick alone that says 'Beware! Real satanic voices recorded on tape' (or something like that), you'll be disappointed. First of all, it IS a marketing gimmick - and a false one. Further, the movie is a standard horror/exorcism type of movie, although again, it is based on a true story.

Jennifer Carpenter gives a striking portrayal of someone being possessed. As for the rest of the cast (including the lovely Laura Linney), nothing to 'possess' or shout about :)

However, the courtroom drama in the movie may give Emily Rose a different kind of feel to horror (or exorcism?) fans out there, and may attract viewers from wider groups.

For ratings of these movies and many more, do visit my website http://members.fortunecity.com/abdunmy/.

NEXT POSTING! A review on Without A Trace, a hit US tv series about FBI finding missing persons. Check out this blog soon........

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Touch Down

Greetings all! I safely 'touched down' at 6am yesterday, Malaysian time. The trip went well and lots of precious experiences encountered. Although I had fever on Sunday, I endured and 'persevered' to survive the remaining 2 days in India, as I realised this might be the only trip that I made to this country in my life.

I have so many things to share (regarding the trip) and photos to show. I will do so after I clear off some deadlines that have been clogging on my table (even before the trip). Do visit this blog often (as I can't tell you precisely at this moment, when will my journey be fully documented) and my website too, as the website will contain more detailed description of India together with dozens of photos.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

The 'Fly'

Just came back to work yesterday. Raya was fine - 'beraya'ing to some relatives' place with my folks; playing with and entertaining those 2 cute nieces of mine; cuddling with Sky, the fattest and most eccentric cat I've ever known and getting further acquainted with my fiance and her family.

Tomorrow, I'll be leaving to New Delhi, for this one convention till next Tuesday, 15 November 2005. Do pray that I return safely and in one piece. God...I hope that was just a bad dream....Aaaamiiinnnnnnnn...........

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