The time is back..After slightly a year after Paranormal Activity is shown around end of 2009, the much anticipated Paranormal Activity 2 finally has reached Malaysian shore..Thanks to UIP that I can watch it beforehand again
If you have watched Paranormal Activity 1 (PA1), you may say that it’s a boring movie that you almost fell asleep and all..But for me, PA1 is something very fresh and I know the plot is moving very slow but the effect is all it counts..
The movie itself is not that scary at all but the after-effect is simply terrifying..I who usually watch horrors like normal movies, if not like comedies, too felt the after-effect has gotten me a bit..
If you have not watched PA1, don’t worry because it doesn’t really mater as Paranormal Activity 2 (PA2) is actually a prequel of PA1..
The family in PA2 is related to the family in PA1 and PA2 gives you a better picture of what was happening in PA1 and why does it happened..
PA1 seems a bit hanging here and there and left you clueless back then as why Katie was possessed..Was it just because the house was haunted or was it something from the past..
This prequel definitely tells a lot and I would say it’s much more interesting and horrifying than PA1..
Whenever I watch horrors, I usually predict the next scene that would make the girls scream so it’s not that horrifying when one can predict the next move..
But in PA2, I can hardly predict the next scene and it caught me by surprise..
All in all, I would rate Paranormal Activity 2 for a horrifying 8/10 for its prequel story prior to PA1 and lots of surprises that got me scared..
For those who thought PA1 was boring, you might not think the same for PA2..From a psychology point of view, I would say for a person to say it’s boring is a way to neutralize or control the fear in them
Owh, expect quite a surprise ending too..It got me think about karma for a while..
Watch the official trailer..Not for the weak-heart..Lower down your volume..You have been warned..
Watched ‘My Soul To Take’ with Daphne, thanks to UIP for the tickets..
First off, here’s a bit of details on the casts and production crew and all..
Genre : 3-D Suspense thriller
Cast : Max Thieriot, John Magaro, Emily Meade, Nick Lashaway, Denzel Whitaker, Shareeka Epps, Paulina Olszyinski, Raúl Esparza
Written and Directed by : Wes Craven
Produced by : Wes Craven, Iya Labunka, Anthony Katagas
‘My Soul To Take‘ is a thriller with a slight bit of horror but it’s not getting anywhere near ghost-horror thingy, directed by Wes Craven, who also did ‘Nightmare On Elm Street‘..
When I thought it’s some trying-too-hard-to-be-there kinda movie, the beginning of the movie got me startled and I was amazed, really..
It’s about a family guy (no not that animation Family Guy) who has some kinda mental illness and has multiple personality which got him became a serial killer in Riverton..
*Car crash*
The starting of the movie wasn’t making any sense but who cares coz Abel Plenkov (Raul Esparza) has multiple personalities aka mental illness so we are not in for something of the norm..
The killer, Riverton Ripper is already on killing spree before you could warm your seat and your popcorn is probably still fresh hot..Like I said, I was amazed with the amount of actions..
*5 of the Riverton 7*
After some killings and car crashing, the Riverton Ripper fled, not knowing whether he’s dead or alive..
16 years have passed and come the story after that, the Riverton 7..Riverton 7 is the 7 babies that survived on their pre-matured birth on the night The Ripper is ‘killed’..
Rumors said the Ripper’s soul is still around among the Riverton 7 and things have been fine until the night of Ripper’s Day, 16-years later..
So the rumor or curse is that the Ripper will be back for more killing spree and the Riverton 7 is his target..
Riverton 7 consists of main character Adam ‘Bug’ Hellerman (Max Thieriot), Bug’s best friend Alex Dunkelman (John Magaro), Jerome King (David Whitaker), Penelope Bryte (Zena Grey), pretty girl Brittany Cunningham (Paulina Olyszynski), Jay Chan (Jeremy Chu), and big bully Brandon O’Neil (Nick Lashaway)..
*The Fang*
IMHO, I think the character of Fang (Emily Meade) is not quite necessary but later in the movie only I realized her role in the movie is pretty much what makes the characters of the Riverton 7 of some sort..
So never underestimate the Fang, the self-appointed high school queen in Riverton..
*Brittany Cunningham being assaulted*
Things got pretty ugly with pools of blood and it’s nothing much of goriness..So don’t worry if you are afraid if you can’t handle the gory scenes, coz there’s almost none, IMO..
*Lots of surprises waiting for you*
Lots of twists and jokes in this movie and it got you thinking who is the real killer..It could be the Ripper from 16 years ago, it could be someone among the Riverton 7..
The ending is quite a surprise for me, at least..Some might want to claim their superiority by using the word ‘predictable’..
The ending isn’t really hanging around but there’s room for a sequel but I think it’s good that it stop just right there..Perhaps a prequel would be fine..
I’ll give ‘My Soul To Take’ a decent 7/10 for its early actions and the suspense throughout the movie..
DISCLAIMER : This review is just based on my personal opinion on an anime as an anime fan myself..It’s totally based on my own amateur knowledge which I’ve accumulated by watching most of the anime that I owned, check HERE..
Highschool of The Dead, or known as Gakuen Mokushiroku in Japanese, is an anime-adaptation of a manga of the same name written by Daisuke Sato and illustrated by Shoji Sato..
The manga has been released since September 2006 and was adapted into anime by Madhouse where it began airing on 5th July 2010..
Highschool of The Dead (HOTD) starting-plot takes place in a highschool, where Takashi Komuro and his gang of fellow students, childhood friend Rei Miyamoto, swords-woman Saeko Busujima, geek Kota Hirano, genius Saya Takagi, school infirmary doctor and Shizuka Marikawa..
Suddenly the whole world infested by zombies and other fellow students who got bitten by the zombies will eventually become one of them too..
So the story is about survival and the journey to look for other survivors..
Character development is pretty good on each of the main surviving character and it has the mind-boggling thing if it really happens to you..
Unlike Resident Evil kinda zombie plot, HOTD is more about survival, human instinct and nature when such apocalyptic incident happens upon mankind..
Its genre falls into action, horror, thriller, and with the themes of gore and fan-service..
Fan-service is the kind of theme where it “pleasures” the fans with partial nudity and/or sexual images, where in most cases involved upskirts, down-blouse, and lots of panties views..
Takashi Komuro is voiced by Junichi Suwabe, who also did Archer in Fate/Stay Night, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques in Bleach, and Greed in FullMetal Alchemist, just to name a few..
Rei Miyamoto is voiced by Marina Inoue, who also did for Yoko in Gurren Lagann series, Kana Minami in Minami-ke series, and also sang for OP and ED for Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei..
The Opening Song (OP) is “Highschool of The Dead” by Kisida Kyodan and The Akeboshi Rockets..
Ending themes (ED) are pretty unique in HOTD because it has 12 different EDs on this 12-episodes anime..Each ED suits the mood on how each episode ends..
All of the EDs are sung by Maon Kurosaki..Do check out some snippets after the EDs, they are not previews of the following episodes..
I would say it’s NOT the kind of anime suitable for minor due to its goriness and mild sexual content..
It’s a 12-episode anime and it seems 2nd season should be up anytime because it ends at the beginning of Chapter 16 in the manga, which have a total of 28 chapters as of July 2010..
I’m not too sure if the manga ends there or there’s still more to come but the anime certainly has more to offer!
I think it should be pretty similar to The Walking Dead, which is about survival after post-apocalypse when zombies have ruled the world..
According to ANN, the readers gave it a median rating at ‘Very Good’ with 931 voters in total as of now..
I would give it a very decent 8/10 for the gore scenes and the killing instinct just to survive at the end of the day..
Entered the cinema hall and didn’t expect much from Megamind 3D because I got disappointed by some other animations although they were really cute and kinda funny but it just didn’t hit the button in me..
*Taken from UIP*
Thanks to UIP for the sneak preview tickets and I pretty enjoyed it with Daphne..Do follow their Facebook Fanpage at facebook.com/uipmalaysia for more movie updates!
Voiced by Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, Brad Pitt, and David Cross, this animation is definitely not your average superhero kinda movie..
Watched the trailer few times before and I must say the trailer pretty much played with our minds and I must applaud to that..
There must be some discreet details hidden in a trailer instead of pretty much makes up the whole story like some not-so-good movie trailers..
But of course, the discreet details must be interesting and fresh instead of the usual boring, expected, and/or cold jokes that didn’t really worked out..
*Taken from Google Images*
Megamind, an Avatar-like villain who fights the whole world, and the Metroman of course..
That pretty much sums up from the trailer but from the poster you can see there’s actually another superhero character..
I can only tell you that this animation movie is pretty much about human nature and there’s always the evil side and of course the good side or a person..
I would not spoil the surprise and I hope you enjoy the surprise and of course expect the unexpected..
I’m giving Megamind 3D a rating of 8/10 for the fresh and unexpected storyline together with its funny dialogue and the surreal face expressions..
I’ve watched it in 3D but I would say it’s up to you whether to watch it in 3D or not..For me it’s not specifically a must to be watched in 3D..
DISCLAIMER : This review is just based on my personal opinion on an anime as an anime fan myself..It’s totally based on my own amateur knowledge which I’ve accumulated by watching most of the anime that I owned, check HERE..
One Outs, outlined with the game of baseball in the Japanese league of sort, is filled with the essence of mind-reading, gambling, and also the very tactical strategies used on the pitch..
Hiromichi Kojima, the star batter of the Lycaons, heads to Okinawa to train and bring himself out of a slump. There, he meets Toua Tokuchi, a 134 km/h (83 mph) pitcher and the undisputed king of a gambling form of baseball called “One Outs”.
At Kojima’s urging, Tokuchi signs up with the Lycaons. His contract, the ‘One Outs contract’, differs from the usual, though, in that he gets 5,000,000 yen for every out he pitches, but loses 50,000,000 yen for every run he gives up.
*Taken from Google Images*
The protagonist, Toua Tokuchi, a self-declared professional gambler, caught the eyes of Hiromichi Kojima of the Saikyou Saitama Lycaons baseball team to invite Tokuchi to become the pitcher..
The owner of the Lycoans, Tsuneo Saikawa (often called as Saikawa Owner), isn’t impressed at all because Tokuchi is not a professional player..So Saikawa offered Tokuchi a contract called “One Outs contract”..
*Taken from Google Images*
The contract didn’t offer Tokuchi any basic salary of sorts but he gets 5-mil yen for every out he pitches, but loses 50-mil yen for every run he gives..
So the story sets in from there and Tokuchi fast became the ace pitcher for the Lycoans, leading the Lycoans to neck-to-neck wins and also draining millions of yen from the Lycoans’ owner..
Tokuchi is portrayed as a somewhat self-centered, laid back person whenever he’s on the pitch but at the same time he’s doing all the assumptions, calculations and mind-reading game when playing with other teams..
*Taken from Google Images*
Indirectly, Tokuchi somewhat plays the manager-role in the Lycoans team as well and led them to wins..
Saikawa Owner is pretty much the constant antagonist in this anime, alongside with some other characters from other playing teams..
One Outs is very interesting because for one, baseball is already pretty exciting itself, together with the mind-reading and the counter-measures taken by an amateur player in the context of the professionals, it’s pretty much sexciting that makes you ask for more..
One Outs, originally a manga series by Shinobu Kaitani for the Business Jump from 1998 to 2006..
The anime adaptation by Madhouse Studios began airing on 7th October 2008 in Japan, aired almost every week for 25 episodes until 20th January 2009..
If you are not an avid follower of anime, you might not know that Madhouse has a good reputation in providing good quality anime, namely Death Note, Trigun, Summer Wars, Sakura Wars, and Card Captor Sakura, just to name a few..
Toua Tokuchi, voiced by Masato Hagiwara, who also did the voiceover for Bae Yong-joon in “Winter Sonata” in the Japanese dub..
Interestingly, the voice behind Saikawa Owner, Kenji Utsumi, is the voice behind ShenLong in the Dragonball series..
It’s opening song (OP) is “Bury” by Pay Money to My Pain..The ending song (ED) is “Moment” by Tribal Chair..
*Taken from Google Images*
Based on ANN’s rating, 88 out of 254 voted ‘excellent’ and it gave One Outs a median rating of excellent as well..
Although the rating is not something to be fully depended on but it’s a good reference if you are not familiar with anime titles or which are the recommended ones..
As for my rating, I would give it a mind-blowing 9/10 for its excellent tactical baseball and it’s something that one have to repeat some scenes few times to really get to understand its essence..
Definitely recommended if you wan something out of the norm and not just only normal boring sports anime..This anime is totally win!
Adam Lambert, the runner-up in American Idol Season 8, second best to Kris Allen, is coming to Kuala Lumpur for his Adam Lambert Glam Nation Tour Malaysia 2010 concert!
As for personal preference, I enjoy Adam Lambert’s vibrant and energetic performance more than Kris Allen’s steady yet mesmerizing performance..
Glad that I’m going for both, already went for Kris Allen’s showcase and now to Adam Lambert’s..Too bad I had to give Kelly Clarkson’s a miss
*Adam Lambert Glam Nation Tour Malaysia 2010*
As much as he’s always being known as, Glambert it is, I’m expecting something flashy and rock-styled from him, like we’ve seen in the American Idols..
The concert is happening on 14th October 2010 at Putra Indoor Stadium Bukit Jalil, brought to you Live by DiGi, and jointly organized by Marctensia and Sony Music..
The ticket prices range from RM103 to RM253 for numbered seats and RM193 (Rock Zone) and RM298 (The Pitt) for free standing..
Well I’ll be there in the Rock Zone as it’s closer to the stage and I want to rock it on with my friends! Very much feel like mosh pits now
You can purchase the tickets online at Ticketpro.com.my or Ticketpro counters namely Rock Corner, Victoria Music Centre, and Music Valley, in Klang Valley..
For more ticket outlets in Penang, Johor, and Sabah, you can check out Ticket Outlets in Ticketpro.com.my..
If you buy from those ticket outlets, probably you can consider buying Adam Lambert’s For Your Entertainment – Tour Edition album too!
*Adam Lambert’s For Your Enterntainment – Tour Edition*
By purchasing the Tour Edition album you will get a 10% off on the concert ticket OR get a 10% off on the album when you purchase the concert ticket, get the drift?
Four Your Entertainment – Tour Edition album that has 4 bonus tracks and a bonus DVD which includes Stripped performances, AOL live session and the making of the video for “If I Had You”..
That’s all and I hope to see whoever who is going to the concert, Glambert yo!
For all Adam Lambert’s concert goers, be prepared to come all “glammed-up” as 5 lucky fans with the best glam look for the night will stand a chance to get an autographed Adam Lambert Glam Box as well as to meet Adam backstage..
In order to participate in the “Glam It Up” contest, just get all “glammed-up” and have your photo taken at the official photowall, stationed at the main entrance, by our designated photographers between 5.30 to 6.00pm..
On top of that if you are one of the lucky 5 chosen winners and also a DiGi subscriber, you and a friend will automatically be upgraded to DiGi’s zone to watch the concert**. (**The upgrade of tickets is not applicable for “The Pitt” zone ticket holders)
For fans who comes between 6.00 to 8.00pm, you can still get your photos taken and be included in the “Glamberts Hall Of Fame” photo album which will be uploaded on Facebook after the concert..
To view your Glam photos, just go to Sony Music Malaysia Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/sonymusicmy). You can also share your photo with your friends by tagging yourself..Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of the “Glamberts Hall Of Fame”..
*Adam Lambert Glam Nation Tour Malaysia 2010*
