Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Pitch Perfect: simply perfect just the way you are~~

Poster:

Trailer:


Plot:
Beca Mitchell (Anna Kendrick), a newly arrived freshman at Barden University, has no desire in attending college, though she is forced to attend by her father (John Benjamin Hickey), a professor at the university who intends on her having at least one good collegiate memory. The father-daughter has been strained since the divorce and his father remarrying. Beca sort of keep everything to herself, content of having music to occupy her minds instead of relating to others.

Wishing to instead move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music making, Beca takes up an internship at the school radio station mans by  Luke Morgan (Freddie Stroma), where she meets fellow freshman Jesse Swanson (Skylar Astin), who develops a not-so-secret crush on her.



oh so comel!

When Beca's father discovers she has not been attending classes, he comes to her with a proposition: if she joins a club and still does not want to remain at college, he will allow and pay for Beca to move to Los Angeles.
 
Chloe is impressed with Beca's shower singing of Titanium





After some persuasion from Chloe Beale (Brittany Snow), who really thinks Beca has the potential to do some good to the recruiting all-girl acapella group Barden Bellas, Beca attends the audition and managed to wow everybody with her simple impromptu rendition of "Cups Song".


It is noted that group leader Aubrey Posen (Anna Camp) might have reservations regarding Beca but she welcomes her to Barden Bellas all the same, joining alongside a group of other women who do not fit the Bellas' typical mold: the misunderstood Cynthia-Rose (Ester Dean), the sexually driven Stacie Conrad (Alexis Knapp), the awkwardly quiet Lilly Onakuramara (Hana Mae Lee), who speaks inaudibly, and the irresponsible and eccentric Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson).


Aubrey loses it at the previous year Nationals and never even starts to recover from it
At group rehearsal, Aubrey's controlling nature gets on the nerves of the other girls, especially Beca.



She is constantly critical and insists that they use the same set list and performing styles the Bellas have been using for years, which clashes with Beca's original style.





Meanwhile, Beca hangs out with Jesse, who has joined the Treblemakers, the Bellas' main rival. Aubrey warns the group not to have any sexual contact with the Treblemakers, or they'll be forced to leave the Bellas.

The acapella groups at the university were later having a riff-raf, the battle to win the infamous microphone some famous artist had used there. the Treblemakers seem to own the night until Beca gets in with her infectious "no diggity" and get the audience to join them.



Nonetheless, the biased referee picked the Treblemakers as the winner due to a technicality issue. yet, it is apparent to others that Beca is really gifted.

Spending more time with Jesse, Beca plays several of her own mixes of contemporary songs for him, and he compliments her for her talent. After learning that Beca doesn't like movies, never even making it through a movie from beginning to end because she loses interest, Jesse tries to get Beca to watch the ending of The Breakfast Club, one of his favorite movies.


Jesse been coaxing Beca to watch The Breakfast Club movie to the end

Meanwhile, the Bellas attempt to put aside their issues and participate in the Southeastern regional competition at Carolina University.

In spite of their distasteful set list, the group manages to place second at the regional a cappella competition behind the all-time favourite the Treblemakers led by Bumper Allen (Adam DeVine), which gives them the bid to semi-finals. however, after the competition is over, the Treblemakers got into an altercation with another senior a capella group. defending Jesse who refused to get into the fight, Beca got involved. however she scuffles with Fat Amy who tries to take the cup away from the Treblemakers resulting in a window wall being smashed. as Fat Amy and the rest got away, Beca was booked by the police for the deed.

released on bail, Beca was pleasantly surprised to see Jesse waiting for her outside the police compound. however her pleasure turns into irritation when she finds out that Jesse has called her father along who in turn yells at her. the deal about LA is off. she in turn yells at Jesse and returns to her dorm, pissed off. there, her temper simply cools down as the Bellas were waiting for her. it was sweet, really.

On their way to the semi-finals, however, the Bellas stops for gas where Fat Amy is hit with a burrito by Bumper, as they drive past in their own bus. After the other girls clean her up, they continue on their way feeling rather joyful as they sang "Party in USA" together. unfortunately the bus run out of gas, as Fat Amy had forgotten to actually pump gas into the bus after getting hit with the burrito. They are then forced to call the Treblemakers to drive them to the venue, which then leads to some smack talk during the car ride there.

Once at the semi-finals, Beca notices how bored the audience is with Aubrey's traditional and overused arrangement, so she provides impromptu back-up, La Roux's "Bulletproof." The Bellas come in third in the competition behind the Treblemakers and the Footnotes; even though the audience seemed to enjoy Beca's remix, Aubrey becomes furious and yells at Beca, who quits the group after yelling at both Aubrey and Jesse. When the Footnotes are disqualified after the discovery that their lead singer was still in high school, the Barden Bellas are called to Nationals in their place. The Bellas get back together after returning from spring break, with the notable exception of Beca.

During this time, Beca begins working as a DJ at the Barden radio station, playing her music on the overnight shift while also steadily distancing herself from Jesse. Upon finding a copy of The Breakfast Club and watching it in its entirety, however, she realizes how much she needs the Bellas and Jesse in her life. Beca went to see Jesse to apologise and perhaps make it up with him again.


At his door though, Jesse blows Beca off as he was frustrated that Beca still doesn't get it that she does have an issue about having people care for her. Until she figures that out, he can't be with her or somewhat (my memory is getting hazy at this point, huhu)

Confused, she went to see her father in order to get some consolation regarding her upheaval. He convinces her to rejoin the Bellas, and to do what's right with her life. During the rehearsal, Bellas are having tussles over Aubrey's domineering self who after criticisms from others turns up losing control by vomiting all over.

Beca arrived and apologised for her adlib during the semi-finals. She turns to leave but Aubrey stops her and finally explains why she was so uptight and controlling: Aubrey's father said to her "if u fail the first time, get your bags packing".

it started off a heart-to-heart session in which the Bellas revealed secrets about themselves:  Stacie (simply too much sex), Cynthia Rose (been addicted to gambling since she split from her gf), Lilly ("i eat my twin in the womb"), Fat Amy ("i'm actually Fat Patricia!"), Beca (no girl friends outside the Bellas), Chloe (can't hit high notes from now on as she had removed her nodes when the Bellas failed to advance to the Nationals at first). the Bellas then appoint Beca as their group leader and decide to adopt Beca's more modern music style.



Meanwhile, Bumper leaves the Treblemakers after being offered a job as a back-up singer for John Mayer. With Nationals approaching and the group short a member, Jesse becomes the new group leader and persuades the Trebles to allow his socially awkward roomie, Benji (Ben Platt) to join the group in Bumper's place.

the Bellas brought their distinctive individual styles that simply blend together nicely
At the Nationals, the Bellas sing a piece arranged by Beca, the tune catchy and fresh "Price Tad/Don't You Forget About Me/Give me Everything". the song mashup is a bit special you see, for it has the ending song of the Breakfast Club movie "Don't You Forget About Me". Once their performance is over, Beca reunites with Jesse with a kiss.

Fast forward to six months later, auditions are beginning for the new year and the Treblemakers and the Bellas are preparing to select new members for their groups; Jesse and Benji are shown sitting at a desk in the auditions hall, followed by Beca and the Barden Bellas, along with their trophy from Nationals.

Special Featurette, the Cast!
  • Anna Kendrick as Beca Mitchell, a reclusive girl who wants to pursue a music career; she joins the Barden Bellas to appease her father and finds herself being caught up in their world.
  • Skylar Astin as Jesse Swanson, a member of the Treblemakers who serves as the main love interest for Beca.
  • Anna Camp as Aubrey Posen, the uptight and traditionalist co-leader of the Bellas; when she vomited at Nationals, she ruined the Bellas' chance at winning the previous year. She is constantly critical and insists that The Bellas use the same set list the Bellas have been using for years.
  • Brittany Snow as Chloe Beale, the kinder and more civil co-leader of the Bellas, whose attempts to get Aubrey to listen to Beca's suggestions get ignored. Chloe gets "nodes" (nodules) but continues to sing when she discovers she can now sing in a lower tone after the surgery.
  • Rebel Wilson as Fat Amy, a comedic and irresponsible member of the Bellas from Tasmania.
  • Ester Dean as Cynthia-Rose Adams, a member of the Bellas, a misunderstood lesbian.
  • Alexis Knapp as Stacie Conrad, a highly sexual member of the Bellas.
  • Hana Mae Lee as Lilly Onakuramara, an Asian member of the Bellas who speaks too quietly to be heard.
  • Ben Platt as Benji Applebaum, Jesse's nerdy roommate and an illusionist, who is is initially rejected from the Treblemakers, and is later accepted to replace Bumper.
  • Adam DeVine as Bumper Allen, the egotistical leader of the Treblemakers.
  • Utkarsh Ambudkar as Donald, Bumper's right-hand man, who beatboxes, raps, and is a main vocalist.
  • Freddie Stroma as Luke Morgan, the radio station manager who plays Beca's DJ mixes on the air.
  • Jinhee Joung as Kimmy-Jin, Beca's unfriendly Korean roommate.
  • Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Tommy, the university's constantly harassed audition launcher.
  • John Michael Higgins as John Smith, a misogynistic commentator for the ICCAs.
  • Elizabeth Banks as Gail Abernath-McKadden, a commentator for the ICCAs.
  • John Benjamin Hickey as Dr. Mitchell, Beca's father, a professor at the college who insists that she attends.


Riviu:
forgive me for overloading this post with GIF images. i really can't help it, the muvi is really that good, i wish to relive everything the morning after and the days onwards. a 5 star Queen of the bubble-gum fun realm :)

do get the OST: it's for keeps!


i was listening to the songs from the movie since last week and haven't been bored at all. it was really a nice, good-feeling movie really, the cast chemistry is really electric and believable. and last night finally watching it, i can't stop smiling :)

at first i was watching this movie for Anna Kendrick, she's really talented you see and in this movie, my respect for her simply manifolds. then there is this Fat Amy persona. RW really steals the show with her oneliners. i love her quips and antics which are really hilarious. her horizontal running, OMG funny! then her comments about Cynthia Rose and Lilly ("don't shout now!") put me in stitches :)

Fat Amy blew Bumper off!

the rest of the Bellas were nice also. Aubrey was surprisingly a nice person really, underneath it all. her voice was pleasant and AC had her controlling mannerisms right to the tee. Chloe was a good singer too and she was nice, loyal to Aubrey though she agrees with Beca's PoV. as for Bumper, he's really obnoxious, to a tee, also :)

but then, a gem in a decent guy was also found. i was nuts for Skylar Astin, he's really good in this movie, you get to wish he was someone u knew in your life. i mean, he's smart, funny and a perfect male friend. genuinely nice, really!

like Beca, i'm smitten!

you guys can check out this clip for their rehearsal:


trust me, GO WATCH (AND BUY) THIS MOVIE!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Looper: a confounding stuff really!

the Poster:

the Trailer:


the Plot:
In the year 2044, 25-year-old Joseph "Joe" Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) works for a crime syndicate in Kansas City as a "looper". Led by a man sent from the future named Abe ( JeffDaniels), loopers kill and dispose of victims sent back in time, and are paid with bars of silver strapped to the target, whose face is hidden by a bag. the reason of the process was that in the future, it is impossible to do killings without being prosecuted for it.

However, there is a downside to the whole deal as to when a looper is retired, the looper's future self is sent back exactly thirty years as his target, but with gold bars. This event is referred to as "closing the loop". Not carrying out the killing is punishable by death.

One night, Seth (Dano), Joe's best friend and fellow looper, tells him that he has failed to close his own loop, and that his future self warned him of a mysterious person called the Rainmaker, who has somehow overthrown the five major crime bosses all by himself and is busy ending all of the loopers' contracts in 2074. Joe reluctantly hides Seth in his apartment's secret floor safe, but the place is searched and he is taken to Abe by Kid Blue (Segan).

Given the choice of revealing Seth's hiding place or forfeiting half of the silver he has hoarded, Joe betrays Seth. The syndicate start mutilating him, knowing that the injuries will be propagated to his older self. They cut an address into Seth's arm, then begin removing parts of his body, causing the older Seth to go to the address, where he is killed.

Joe's next target is late. When he does arrive, he is unbound and his head is bare. It is Joe's older self (Willis). Before Joe shoots, the man turns around so the bullet strikes the gold bars strapped to his back. Old Joe throws a bar, then knocks the younger man out and escapes.

Soon, an alternate future is shown. This time, Joe does close his loop, his older self's head being covered by a bag. He retires to Shanghai, China, where he falls in love and marries. After his 30 years elapse, Joe is taken to close the loop, but his wife is killed in the process. Overpowering his captors, Joe sends himself back to 2044.

Later, meeting his younger self, old Joe explains he is going to kill the Rainmaker as a child to change the future and save his wife. Joe tries but fails to close his loop. Then Kid Blue and other men working for Abe show up, and a gunfight ensues. Young Joe ends up with old Joe's map, which contains three locations circled on the map and a number.

Young Joe heads to one of the marked places, a farm where Sara (Blunt) and her young son Cid (Gagnon) live. Sara distrusts him at first, but gradually warms to him. When Joe shows Sara the map, she recognizes the number as Cid's birthday along with the code of the hospital where he was born. Joe guesses old Joe is going to kill all three boys born that day, not knowing which one will become the Rainmaker. Joe decides to wait at the farm for his older self.

Joe soon learns that Sara is telekinetic (as is about 10% of the population), and that Sara gave Cid to her sister to raise until she was accidentally killed by Cid.

One morning, Jesse (Dillahunt), one of Abe's thugs, comes looking for both Joes. He returns later and threatens Sara. Cid falls down the stairs and becomes angry, which triggers an extraordinarily powerful telekinetic blast that kills Jesse, revealing that he is the future Rainmaker.

Meanwhile, Kid Blue captures old Joe and takes him to Abe. Old Joe breaks free and kills Abe and many of his men, though Kid Blue is only wounded. Then old Joe heads to Sara's place. While young Joe shoots it out with Kid Blue, old Joe pursues Sara and Cid. Cid creates another telekinetic blast, but before he can kill old Joe (suspended in mid-air), Sara manages to calm him down. Then, telling Cid to run into the cane field, Sara stands in old Joe's line of sight to shield her son. Young Joe realizes that his older self will shoot Sara and fill Cid with the anger which will mold him into the Rainmaker. Too far away to prevent it, he instead kills himself, thus erasing old Joe.

the Riviu:
i'm nursing a headache, trying to figure out how to fit the story into a congruent understandable timeline. i mean, who was shot in place of old Joe? and the prosthetic put on JGL's face so he resembles BW (not!) was so annoyingly fake, and at times, not helping at all.

the basis of the looper's existence is that killers cannot possibly flee from justice in the future, yet Joe did so much killings left and right as he grew old that this defies the very purpose. what? no law abiding enforcers in China? nada? then why in the world send them back into the past? send them to China instead!

there are also the dancer part. which is to me serves no purpose at all other than scintillating the minds of the viewers, what with the frontal nudity by miss Perabo. hah, don't go looking for the scene, it's pointless and yes, serve no purpose! and joining that scene to my further distaste was the scene of Sara hooking up with Joe. what for eh? is there even any sparks of attraction resulting in chemistry here, or did i miss it? no reason. at all. as if the director/scriptwriter doing a list of things to keep viewers' interest. imagine this:

  • time travel crap that even BW won't waste time explaining - check
  • unnecessary frontal nudity - check
  • even more unnecessary violence - check
  • sex scenes - check
  • substance abuse - check
  • kid with extra special powers - check
  • apa lagi ek?
i get extra headache thinking the list up, huh.

to JGL's credit however, his acting is faultless. he even successfully adopts BW mannerisms to a tee. but his future fashion and hairstyles suck!

and why do these loopers keep using that eye drops that though get them high yet it cause them to be short-sighted. oii, that's not good for your profession really!

most of the time, i agreed with CinemaSin here. sigh. i wish i could go out and shoot the script down before it even got made!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Wreck-it Ralph: Bubble Gum Refreshing!

the Poster:








the Trailer:


the Plot:
When Litwak's Arcade closes at night, the various video game characters leave their normal in-game roles and are free to travel to other games. Within the game Fix-It Felix, Jr., the characters celebrate its titular hero (Jack McBrayer) but shun the game's villain character, Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly). At a support group for video game antagonists, Ralph reveals his desire to stop being the bad guy. Back at home, Ralph finds the other characters celebrating their game's 30th anniversary without inviting him. Felix reluctantly invites Ralph to join them, but the others led by Mayor Gene ostracize him, saying he would have to earn a medal, just as Felix does in their game.

At Tapper's, Ralph learns that he can win a medal in the first-person shooter game Hero's Duty from a dissilusioned fighter named Markowski. As the drunk Markowski passed out, Ralph takes his uniform instead and enters the game, encountering Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch), its no-nonsense leader.

Between game sessions, Ralph climbs the game's central beacon and collects the medal, accidentally hatching a Cy-Bug, one of the game's enemies. The Cy-Bug clings to Ralph as he stumbles into an escape pod that launches him out of the game into Game Central. Meanwhile, with Ralph missing, a girl reports to Litwak the arcade owner that Fix-It Felix, Jr. is malfunctioning. Since broken games get unplugged, leaving their characters homeless, Felix with Q-bert's info goes to find Ralph before it's too late.

Ralph crash-lands in Sugar Rush, a candy-themed kart-racing game. With Cy-Bug getting swallowed by a swamp, as Ralph searches for his medal, he meets Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), a glitchy character who takes the medal and uses it to buy entry into a race. King Candy (Alan Tudyk) and the other racers refuse to let Vanellope participate, claiming that she is not really part of the game. Hovewer, as the coin is already paid, Vanellope has the chance to participate in the race slated for tomorrow.

Feeling sorry for her, Ralph helps Vanellope build a kart. At her home in Diet Cola Mountain, an unfinished racing course, he discovers that she is a natural racer.

Back in Hero's Duty, Felix meets Calhoun and informs her that Ralph has gone Turbo. She in turn warns that the Cy-Bugs are capable of taking over any game they enter. As the pair searches for Ralph and the Cy-Bug in Sugar Rush, they separate when Felix, enamored with Calhoun, inadvertently reminds her of her fiancé, who had been killed by a Cy-Bug in her backstory. Calhoun finds hundreds of Cy-Bug eggs underground, and Felix becomes imprisoned in King Candy's castle during his search for Ralph.

King Candy hacks the game's code to retrieve Ralph's medal and offers it to him, explaining that letting Vanellope race would be disastrous for both her and the game. Due to her glitching features, players will be mistaken that the game is faulty and thus causing it to be unplugged. All other characters will be able to leave the game except for Vanellope as she is unable to leave the game because she is a glitch.

Fearing for Vanellope's safety, Ralph wrecks the kart and returns to his own game, but finds that everyone has evacuated Fix-it Felix Jr game, expecting the game to be unplugged in the morning. Ralph then notices Vanellope's image on the Sugar Rush cabinet and realizes she is an intended part of the game, not a glitch.

Ralph returns to Sugar Rush, rescues Felix and Vanellope from King Candy's dungeon, and asks Felix to fix the wrecked kart. As the race proceeds, the hatched Cy-Bugs attack and Felix, Calhoun, and Ralph battle them. When Vanellope catches up to King Candy, he reveals that he is actually Turbo, a character from an old game who sabotaged a newer game out of jealousy, causing both to be unplugged. Vanellope escapes from Turbo, who is consumed by a Cy-Bug. The group flees the doomed game, but Vanellope finds she cannot pass through the exit. Calhoun says the game cannot be saved without a beacon to attract and kill the Cy-Bugs.

Ralph heads to Diet Cola Mountain, where he plans on collapsing its Mentos stalactites into the cola at the bottom, causing a blinding eruption that would attract the bugs. Before he can finish, Turbo, merged with the Cy-Bug that had consumed him, carries him away. Ralph breaks free and dives toward the mountain, intending to sacrifice himself to start the eruption on impact. Vanellope in turn uses her glitching abilities to save Ralph. The eruption starts and draws the Cy-Bugs to their destruction, including Turbo the Cy-Bug. Vanellope crosses the finish line, restoring her memory and status as Princess Vanellope, the game's ruler and lead character, while keeping her advantageous glitching ability. Felix and Ralph return to their game in time for Litwak to see that it still works, sparing it from being unplugged.

Calhoun and Felix marry in Hero's Duty (and Vanellope is now apparently able to leave her game, as she is present as the maid of honor at the wedding), and the characters of Fix-It Felix, Jr. gain a new respect for Ralph.

the Riviu:
it is indeed a very nice movie, simple but refreshing. there are a lot of good positive messages put across here. for example, even though convention states that you are a bad guy, you yourself made who you really are. and should you have a weakness, let the weakness be your strength instead.



Ralph is really a good guy with a kind heart. to have him treated shabbily by niceland folks, kesian sangat.
all in all, it sure does bring back memories of playing pc games :)  what's your favourite?

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter: too much CinemaSins!

the Poster:


the Trailer:


the Plot:
In 1818, Abraham "Abe" Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) lives with his parents, Nancy (Robin McLeavy) and Thomas (Joseph Mawle), who work at a plantation owned by Jack Barts (Marton Csokas). There, Lincoln befriends a young African American boy, William Johnson (later to be played by Anthony Mackie), and intervenes when he sees Johnson being beaten by an overseer. Because of his son's actions, Thomas is fired and his employer demands the debt he owed to be paid fully. That night, Lincoln sees Barts break into his house and attack Nancy. She dies shortly afterwards. Thomas tells Lincoln that Barts poisoned Nancy.

Nine years later, feeling vengeful, Lincoln almost drinks himself into a stupor to build up his courage to pursue Barts and put a bullet into him. A stranger casually comments on his drinking motives but Lincoln simply ignores him and walks away to fulfill his purpose.

Lincoln attacks Barts at the docks, but Barts, who is actually a vampire, overpowers him. However, before Barts can kill him, Lincoln is rescued by Henry Sturges (Dominic Cooper), the stranger he met at the bar.

the next day as Lincoln awakens, Sturges explains that vampires exist, and offers to teach Lincoln to be a vampire hunter. Lincoln accepts and spends the summer with Henry sharpening his senses. During his training, Sturges tells Lincoln that the vampires in America descend from Adam (Rufus Sewell), a vampire who owns a plantation in New Orleans with his sister, Vadoma (Erin Wasson). Sturges also tells Lincoln of the vampires' weakness, silver, and presents him with a silver pocket watch. Henry nurses Lincoln back to health and explains some of the nature of vampirism, emphasizing that some vampires are good and others are evil.

After a certain period of his training, Lincoln travels to Springfield, Illinois to start hunting the vampires. There he gets a job from Joshua Speed (Jimmi Simpson) as a shopkeeper while he studies Law. Henry sends Lincoln the names and addresses of evil vampires; Abraham dutifully tracks them down and kills them. in the process, he meets Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) whom he would later marry.

Eventually, Lincoln successfully finds and defeats Barts. Before dying, Barts reveals that Sturges is also a vampire. Lincoln confronts Sturges, who reveals that, several years ago, he was attacked and bitten by Adam. Because Sturges' soul was impure, he became a vampire, and that prevented him from harming Adam or any other vampire since "Only the living can kill the dead". Sturges has since been training vampire hunters, hoping to destroy Adam. Disappointed, Lincoln decides to abandon furthering his mission.

However, when a casket of Barts arrived to his mansion, together with the silver watch, Adam is furious and kidnaps Johnson to lure Lincoln into coming to his ball at his plantation. in order to save Johnson, Lincoln recruits Speed in the mission. however, it is a trap as Adam captures Lincoln and tries to recruit him, revealing his plans to turn the United States into a nation of the undead. Speed rescues his friends, and they barely escape to Ohio with the help of the slaves.

Lincoln decides to enter politics in order to free the Southern slaves from the vampires who are feeding on them, much to the chagrin of Henry Sturges. Henry argues that allowing the southern vampires to have slaves as a food source is the only thing keeping the vampires from attacking everyone else. Lincoln counters that allowing this is immoral and that everyone deserves freedom. Henry and Lincoln's relationship seemingly ends after the disagreement. Lincoln puts aside his axe and is determined to end the scourge of vampires and slavery through political means.

Lincoln's 1860 presidential election triggers the secession of the southern states and the start of the American Civil War which has been a disaster for the Union. Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation to not only free the slaves but eliminate the vampires main food source. However, the war takes a personal toll on Lincoln. Vadoma sneaks into the White House disguised as a maid and kills Lincoln's son, Willy. Henry appears at the White House and offers to turn Willy into a vampire so that he will "live" again, but Lincoln is unwilling to allow it, causing a drift between him and Mary Todd, who finally learn about the vampire-hunting secrets that Lincoln kept away from her.

On the Union-Confederate battlefields, Adam deploys his vampires, and this causes the massacre of the Union army on the first day at Gettysburg.

Being so frustrated at so many loss of the Union soldiers, it drives Lincoln into realising only the silver can kill the vampires so that the Union soldiers have a standing chance. He orders the confiscation of all the silverware to produce silver weapons. Speed, believing that Lincoln is tearing the nation apart, informs Adam that Lincoln will transport the silver by train to Gettysburg.

On the train, Adam and Vadoma, who have set fire to the upcoming trestle, attack Lincoln, Sturges, and Johnson. During the fight Adam learns that the train holds only rocks. Speed reveals that his betrayal was a ruse to lure Adam into a trap. Enraged, Adam bites Speed and kills him. The carriages begin to break loose off the train and the group have to jump carriages to escape. Adam corners them but Lincoln gets out his silver pocket watch and punches Adam in the chest, killing him, and Lincoln escapes the exploding train alongside his allies.

Meanwhile, Mary and the ex-slaves have transported the silver to Gettysburg through the Underground Railroad - it is here that Vadoma is killed by Mary using her son's necklace. The now leaderless Confederate vampires stage a final, massive assault and are met head-on by the Union. Armed with their silver weapons, the Union soldiers destroy the vampires and eventually win the battle.

Nearly two years later, on April 14, 1865, Sturges tells Lincoln that the remaining vampires have fled the country. Sturges tries to convince Lincoln to allow him to turn Lincoln into a vampire, so that he can become immortal and continue to fight vampires, but Lincoln declines and leaves for the theater with his wife.

In modern times, Sturges approaches a man at a bar in Washington, D.C. as he once approached Lincoln.


the Riviu:
it was a rather flimsy plot with loopholes that elephants can dance around so cosily, in herds! there are so many chances for Abe to finish off Barts but he didn't do it, sticking instead to Henry's postal orders. why? even during the rescue of Johnson, he should have finished Adam off but he didn't, waiting instead for everyone in the south to suffer. plus, why did he have to abandon the mission of ridding vampires should his instructor was also a vampire? this is not about henry for g-sake!

and i tend to notice that this film is so crowd-pleasing. Johnson had been bitten but that doesn't turn him into vampire. the fiery train, how in the world that they escaped that? and how did Abe recover so quickly from his nightly wounds? grrr..

sincerely, this movie has too many holes in the story that i'm tired of enumerating them. too much. even Abe's prosthetic face seems too fake!

as for Henry, given that he can fight off Adam (as shown in the final fighting scene) and whatnots, he should stick to that. be a protector instead boleh? instead of making excuses for himself and preying upon vengeful desperate souls..

entahlah. it's a boring pointless film. the special effects are ok though.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Prometheus: finally. duh!

the Poster:



















the Trailer:


the Plot:
As a hovering spacecraft departs an Earth-like world, a humanoid alien drinks a dark bubbling liquid, then starts to disintegrate. The alien's remains cascade into a waterfall. His DNA triggers a biogenetic reaction. perhaps to generate the human life on the planet.

In 2089, archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) discover a star map in Scotland that matches others from several unconnected ancient cultures. They interpret this as an invitation from humanity's forerunners, the "Engineers". Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce), the elderly CEO of Weyland Corporation, funds an expedition to follow the map to the distant moon LV-223 aboard the scientific vessel Prometheus. The ship's crew travels in stasis while the android David (Michael Fassbender) monitors their voyage. Arriving in 2093, they are informed of their mission to find the Engineers. Mission director Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) orders the crew to avoid making contact without her permission.

The Prometheus lands near a large artificial structure, which a team explores. Inside they find numerous stone cylinders, a large, monolithic statue of a humanoid head, and the decapitated corpse of a large alien, thought to be an Engineer; Shaw recovers its head. Other bodies are found, leading the crew to surmise that the species is extinct. Crew members Millburn and Fifield grow uncomfortable with the true nature of the mission and attempt to return to Prometheus.

The expedition is cut short when a rapidly-approaching storm forces the crew to return to the ship. David secretly takes a cylinder from the structure, while the remaining ones begin leaking a dark liquid. Back in the ship's lab, the Engineer's DNA is found to match that of humans. David investigates the cylinder and the dark liquid inside. He then intentionally taints a drink with a drop of the substance and gives it to the unsuspecting Holloway. Shortly after, Shaw and Holloway have an intercourse.

At the ship, the rest of the crew discovered that Millburn and Fifield are left stranded in the structure when they get lost. As the Prometheus's captain, Janek gets in touch with them, they are told to stay put until the storm clears. However, as Janek left the control room to get laid with Vickers, inside the structure, a snake-like creature kills Millburn, and sprays a corrosive fluid that melts Fifield's helmet. Fifield falls face-first into a puddle of dark liquid.

As the storm clears, Janek and the crew heads off to the structure, only to find Millburn's corpse and the room where the remains were found are changing, with dark liquids eking. David separately discovers a control room containing a surviving Engineer in stasis, and a star map highlighting Earth. Meanwhile, Holloway sickens rapidly. He is rushed back to Prometheus, but Vickers refuses to let him aboard, and at his urging, burns him to death with a flamethrower.

Later, a medical scan reveals that Shaw, despite being sterile, is pregnant. Fearing the worst, she uses an automated surgery table to extract a squid-like creature from her abdomen and secure it in a medo-pad. As she attempts to get away from the creature, Shaw then discovers that Weyland has been in stasis aboard Prometheus. He explains that he wants to ask the Engineers to prevent his death from old age and urged Shaw to fulfill Holloway's destiny should he still be alive: find the answers that they were looking for. As Weyland prepares to leave for the structure, Vickers addresses him as "Father".

A mutated Fifield attacks the Prometheus's hangar bay and kills several crew members before he is killed. Janek, speculates that the structure was an Engineer military installation that lost control of a virulent biological weapon, the dark liquid. He also determines that the structure houses a spacecraft and that the planet is just a temporary place for them to develop the biological weaponry before it in turn devours them instead. He vows to never let the Engineers come near Earth at all cost.

Weyland and a team return to the structure, accompanied by Shaw. David wakes the Engineer from stasis and speaks to him in an attempt to explain what Weyland wants. The Engineer responds by decapitating David and killing Weyland and his team, before reactivating the spacecraft. In a restrospect, it is revealed that David intended it so just because he wants to escape Weyland's hold over him.

Shaw flees and warns Janek that the Engineer is planning to release the liquid on Earth, convincing him to stop the spacecraft. Janek ejects the lifeboat and rams Prometheus into the alien craft, while Vickers flees in an escape pod. The Engineer's disabled spacecraft crashes onto the ground; its wreckage crushes Vickers. Shaw goes to the lifeboat and finds her alien offspring is alive and has grown to gigantic size. David's still-active head warns Shaw that the Engineer has survived. The Engineer forces open the lifeboat's airlock and attacks Shaw, who releases her alien offspring onto the Engineer; it thrusts an ovipositor down the Engineer's throat, subduing him.

Shaw recovers David's remains, and with his help, launches another Engineer spacecraft. She intends to reach the Engineers' homeworld in an attempt to understand why they wanted to destroy humanity.

In the lifeboat, an alien creature bursts out of the Engineer's chest. Much like the Alien of the Alien movies. hu hu, the Prequel of Alien Prequels.


the Riviu:
i dl this movie at first because MF was on it. and then i never get down to watching it. been busy and quite uninterested in the scifi genre for a while. however, CinemaSins got me intrigued as it featured this movie as one of their projects. i mean, i can't possibly watch the sins before the movie itself, right? even wikipedia readings are not enough to sate the intrigue. so there went my 2 hours or so. and i feel it was ok enough to warrant 3 stars.

yet, it is almost unfilfilling as much as when plot believability is in concern. i mean, it must have hurt to have an uncustomised caesarean performed, and yet Shaw is jumping left and right, doing stuffs that even agile athletic person would find difficulty with within minutes of the surgery. is she an android as well?

plus, the coherence of the safety measures taken. i mean, yes, have that bubblehead for oxygen. but don't you need to have your hands covered too? nope, they don't think it matters. another plus, the flamethrower thingy. you dare to use it in a hostile land with less oxygen and more substance that can literally cause you to die in 2 minutes? what if there is other lethal combustion when you use it? no, it doesn't matter.

btw, these people surely thinks having a monster with many hands (or tentacles) are cool (or the most horrid). i mean, the Kraken is portrayed as Squid-like monster hunting the ships at seas. so is the monster in this movie. cuba la pikir idea lain kot!

but perhaps, in their defense, maybe this is a reference to the Greek mythology, of the Titan Prometheus of Greek mythology who defies Zeus and gifts humankind their origins from clay and further bestows them the gift of fire, for which he is subjected to eternal punishment. The gods want to limit their creations in case they attempt to usurp the gods.

In the Wikepedia reviews, it is written that the film deals with humanity's relationship with the gods — their creators — and the consequence of defying them. A human expedition intends to find God and receive knowledge about belief, immortality and death. They find superior beings who appear god-like in comparison to humanity, and the Prometheus crew suffer consequences for their pursuit. Further religious allusions are implied by the Engineers' decision to punish humanity with destruction 2,000 years before the events of the film. Tony Scott, the (late) director suggested that an Engineer was sent to Earth to stop humanity's increasing aggression, but was crucified, perhaps implying it was Jesus Christ.

Geez.. come to think of it, it does seem plausible that the movie is the vessel of C. no offense though. i'm just saying that now i understand why David was created in the image of its creator. that he was so desperate of being free from the shackles of his creator that he dared to experiment with the liquid, should it be the key to his freedom. hey, doesn't that seems to imply Anti-C values?! i'm boggled!

one thing i'm sure though, once you hit the button play, u'll be intrigued. and that warrants 3 stars, if you care to ignore the many CinemaSins that niggled into your mind :)

ps: if this is what Tony Scott had been thinking in his warped mind, geez, couldn't fault him for wanting to be gone from this f-up world. just saying.