ACTIVITIES IN NOVEMBER 2009

With 3 movie animations (watching it 2 days in a row), a few other movies (also 2 movies a day on certain days) plus one live stand up performance and preparing for my next trip to Bali again (the 1st was in 2008) which is scheduled on the 28 Jan till 1 Feb of 2010 were all the activities done in November.

Lets talk about movie animations. Which is the best between these 3 movies i.e Christmas Carol, Planet 51 and Astro Boy? For me, the best movie in terms of storyline, family value, delightful characters and also a movie which does not afraid to address adult themes, then my vote will go to Astro Boy. There's nothing to dislike about this movie albeit it was originally a Japanese mangga cartoon produced in 1938...

Nonetheless, if you want to savour a really visually beautiful animation with jaw dropping detail and movement together with dazzling special effect then my vote will go to A Christmas Carol. If you observed carefully, the mood and colour of the movie is changing from dark and murky into bright and cheerful as the main character i.e. Ebe Scrooge changes into a new person...awesome......

What about Planet 51? This movie is not bad at all..it is just that, the previous two movies are much better in its own categories making this most expensive movie produced in Spain with its $70 million budget fails to compete. Planet 51 is a satirical movie, poking fun at everything with witty and clever humor and some of it I must say not and I repeat not suitable for children yet I am sure adults won't be bored thanks to these jokes.

Grade A list artistes lend their voices in all of these movies. The most significant was non other than Jim Carrey who played so many characters beside the frail and frighten Ebe Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. While in Planet 51, Dwayne Johnson a.k.a The Rock, Jesscica Biel, Justin Long, Sean William Scot, Gary Oldman and John Cleese played their part well. As in Astro Boy, we had the talented boy, Freddie Highmore (I simply love him in August Rush), Nicolas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson, Nathan Lane and more..

Strong yet caring , I love Astro Boy's character.

Two Malaysian were hired as animator and lighting engineer for this movie

The reverse role of who is the alien in this movie...

Next, comes the other 3 movies. Ninja Assassin, Mulan and New Moon. From these 3 movie, the best, despite a mixed review, I still prefer New Moon. Irregardless if it is regarded as not a particularly good movie unlike the last film, taking into account critics for bad acting, the long plot to type up loose ends and its two hours it's also a bit too long, I don't mind....hey its a love story for goodness sake, it captures the agonies and ecstasies of being young and in love (like me, young at heart...I am so will be labeled ASB's..hack!!!).. New Moon has romance, action, excitement and love that has only grown form time apart. The special effects of the wolves were superb but sadly Victoria, the bad vampire was totally underused...hope to see more of her in "Eclipse" which is rumored to be shown six month from now plus and a short but effective performance by Dakota Fanning was a pleasant surprise...

Talking about Mulan, this superb Chinese movie is far from the cutesy Mulan you saw in a Disney cartoon character a decade ago. Played by Zhao Wei, this legendary icon is seen to sprayed with blood on her face after killing a general and a desert king. But again, despite the war and the marvellous action scenes, this is still a love story between Mulan and one of her co-generals...one slack is that, this movie is a bit too long with few unnecessary scenes. Other then that, the acting skills of all especially Zhao Wei is commendable.

Jacyee Chan (behind), son of Jackie Chan acted as a supporting role..

Ninja Assassin.. The title hints at the idea of a highly skilled assassin, working his martial arts skills against high profile individual/government...true but then again the plot does not seem to handle the story well making it into the borderline of a B movie category. People either come to watch this movie because of the director, James McTeigue who is the second director of the Wachowski Brothers of the Matrix's fame i.e for its techniques OR only to see Rain, the Korean singer for his debut in film. For me, I have seen better ninja movies before and this I don't mind giving it a pass. As for the action sequences, even our neighbouring country can deliver such a jaw dropping scenes irregardless of genders, yup our awesome Thais...

So much blood but none on the floor, the normal CGI patchwork..

One Load of Bull Jit: Stories True and False.

Last Saturday, A, Farra (my niece) and myself went to the newly opened PJ Live Arts Theatre in Jaya One to watch the renowned actor and playwright Jit Murad sharing his thoughts on current affairs and idiosyncrasies of Malaysian life in a light and humorous style. This was the second time I watched Jit in action..so I can anticipate his jokes quite well and yet he still delivered his line with punch and gusto...The ticket was priced at RM65 and seen at the PJLA were Jit's buddies, Harith Iskandar, Han Issac, Shanon Shah and few other local artistes. This occasionally crude, usually hilarious and always witty (and at times quite provoking) performance was presented by Dramalab and produced by Datuk Zahim Albakri.

Jit Murad, yea youuu, yea youuuuuuu....

By the way, I enjoying myself listening to Leona Lewis's new album, ECHO... I must say her vocal is more powerful then ever...just like her previous album, all 13 tracks here are gems worth listening over and over again..especially her 1st single BRAVE. But then my favourite will be BROKEN and MY HANDS...pure bliss..

As for my reading material...am reading PATHS OF GLORY, a new novel from my all time best writer, Jeffery Archer..ermm will be finishing soon and waiting after that will be THE HOST by Stephenie Meyer (author of Twilight saga) and URBAN ODYSSEYS - KL Stories - an anthology from our various local writers...

Just bought Gossip Girl's 3rd season...can't wait to watch that too. Ermm..where do I have time for all this...hehehe

Last..am going to Anugerah Skrin tonite...have a nice weekend.. XOXO

PAPADOM IN SPACE???

Nowadays its so easy to buy your ticket to see a movie...sure enough, you can book it online either in TGV or GSC....and like anyone else, my dear brother did the same when he wanted to bring his whole family to watch PAPADOM, the most successfull Malay movie todate which had won The Best Movie during our local Film Festival even before the movie was being shown in the cinemas... And yes, Papadom is a great movie with a comedy family drama kinda thang... A true relationship between a single father and his daughter...yada yada yada...

Online ticketing requires you to select from the screen from your computer inter alia, the date, the time and the movie in which you wanted to see. Once confirmed, you will be given a confirmation number for you to produce while purchasing the ticket at the cinema. My brother did just that. After ticking the date, time and movie, he gave the confirmation number with the money to his eldest son who later went to the cinema to collect 7 tickets. Later that nite, all of them went to the cinema. Entering into the cinema, my brother was impressed with the full house and with so many races came to watch this movie, thinking Afdlin Shauki, the award winning director and actor must have hit the jack pot for this movie i.e box office status... (very the 1Malaysia lah....)

My brother was further impressed when the starting of the movie with the appearance of a flying space ship....thinking again that Afdlin had really spent much money on CGI for his movie with a gimmick and waiting patiently for him and the rest of the cast to appear but BEHOLD...none of it came....THEN REALITY STRUCK....they were not watching PAPADOM but ....jeng jeng jeng PANDORUM, a sci fi action movie. Gone were all the anticipated comedy and touching scene at the end of Papadom and being replaced with the shocking action sequences aka.Resident Evil in space....

The chilling scene

You must know the reason by now...my dear brother had paid a price for wrongly ticked the correct movie during his online booking..well I cant blame him, both movies sound quite the same.. Luckily, PANDORUM was not a bad movie, kinda intriguing actually to compare with the awful 2010..opsss. At least its a English movie. I wonder what will happened to them if its Tamil film, no pun intended for that remark...but just my imagination.... as much as I must imagine my dear brother will have his magnifying glass ready every time he books his next movie online again hehe... And ermm..Afdlin Shauki will cry out loud reading this...why in the hell, PANDORUM appeared at the same time as PAPADOM........urghhhhhhh...


What about 2012 then? A trailer IS INDEED a SPOILER to a movie but again..the movie suck nonetheless...together with its partner, TRANSFORMER 2, The Revenge of The Fallen... I hate things so Americanseque (is there a word for that?) ... the Americansavetheworld kinda thing, purely robotic and no sense of human loss at all... (guyssss!!!!! , go and watch Tsunami, the Korean movie at least...the human touch in the movie can give you misty eyes, no doubt), YES except the CGI, I knowledged that but still such a waste of my RM20 ticket price watching at GSC Signature, The Garden, Mid Valley (less RM1,00 if you use your EON GSC gold card, promo sat....gituuuuuu).... The next anticipated movie will be AVATAR...I don't want to say more, suffice to say...ermm the storyline is kinda klise....see how it goes.......

ALOR SETAR /PENANG - PART 2

As mentioned before in my last post, A and I went to Alor Setar first before going to Penang for the gathering the next day. On Friday the 30th, we reached Alor Setar at 8.00pm and after having dinner at A's house, we went out to Alor Setar's town. Kedah was celebrating the 81st birthday of its ruler, HRH the Sultan of Kedah. There was a huge carnival near the Alor Setar Mall including a big Ferris wheel, a merry-go-round and many stalls that sell all kind of things. In the mall, I bought a trouser and I noticed most of the workers or sales person are of Thai's nationality. I also bought a few CDs before entering a karaoke centre there. I can't remember the name but the sound system was good and choices of song were up todate. We went back to A's house near 2 am.

Saturday morning, I had the privilege of meeting A's uncle, Prof Dato' Dr Azizan Abu Samah of University of Malaya who had arrived last night from Kuala Lumpur. He was in Alor Setar for a live telecast forum scheduled that night in the stadium. For such a well respected academician, he is such a humble person despite being the first Malaysian to be in Antarctica and still doing his research there.

After breakfast, A brought me to Jitra..to a special place where his cousin sells this delicious food below..

Moi is actually a rice porridge..and its soooooooooo delicious...

Two of us but 3 bowls..hemmmm huhu

I did not meet A's cousin but I met both his wives working hand in hand handling the shop. Also seen at the modest shop was the famous Datok Habsah Hassan and her hubby.

In Jitra, A also brought me to a shop that sells all kind of a traditional cookies with a speciality i.e kuih talam..

The shop that sell kuih talam

All sort of kuih talam...

But the best part in the restaurant is this sort thing which resemble a cage.....I have not seen foods to be kept in this manner....but I guess its the best and practical thing so as to prevent it from flies......

One glance, its the place where you put dead body inside...noti me..

While in Penang, the day after the gathering, A and I joined the penang and KL gang for lunch and afterwards, A and I went to Queensbay Mall. We watched "Ninja".. a B rated movie just to kill the time before going to dinner at my favourite place again, i.e Pan Mutiara, Batu Maung.

At Queensbay Mall..

Anxiously waiting for the rest of the food to arrive...still the best fish curry head for me

Later, A and I went across the Penang Bridge to Sunway Carnival Mall, Seberang Jaya. Here, Wan (A's friend), together with Zaif and Lego, Zairul and his two friends, we had a karaoke session in Amp Karaoke ending at 1.00am followed by a late supper in one of the mamak's afterward. Later, A and I headed back to Georgetown i.e Sunway, Hotel, only to check out in the afternoon and going back to KL.

Zairul belting one of his favorite songs...

Kusyuk mendengar lagu.....

To all friends in Penang...thx a million........

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PENANG FRIENDS GATHERING DINNER - 31 OCT 2009

Just like last year, Penang Friends Gathering Dinner was held in Penang but this time it was in Sunway Hotel, Georgetown on the 31 Oct, 2009. On Friday, 30th, A and I went to Alor Setar and we only check-in to the hotel the next day, staying there for two days before going back to KL on Monday, the 1st. There were few places of interest in Alor Setar and Jitra in which I will blog on it later...God Willing...

If last year's theme was Hari Raya..now it was 70's retro and it could be more interesting if only the organiser decided to choose Halloween as its theme since that nite in itself was Halloween Nite. Regardless, respecting the wish of the organiser, A and I decided to dress properly according to the theme. I, with the disco era kinda of dress aka John Travolta (with a big tummy, that is...perasannnn) and A chose to be Elvis complete with a wig. Earlier, I thought of wearing an afro kinda wig but decided against it. 70's was my schooling years... and I know how it was like..Not all of us had that kinda of look.... Out of 60 or more guests, 30% of them, I can say did dress up for the nite...

Same like last year, there were games, lucky draws and performances by groups from KL and Penang.... Dinagogo as an emcee was hilarious....a real performer and entertainer....unlike last year A and I were unlucky for the lucky draws (last year, A won the second last lucky draw, winning a huge hamper full of foods)....this year I won second best dress of the nite. taking home another huge hamper in which I discovered later, also included a rice cooker and a toaster as well as all those foodies..

Thanks again to the organizer....it will a nite to remember as always....

70's retro......

The prize...u have to strut and answer the jugde's question for this....

Nobit..3rd runner up best dress... 4 guests were shortlisted for this

Dinagogo in action...

after the dinner, with the organiser...

Fond memories....

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS & "9" THE MOVIE

These two animations are a must see movies to watch...... I watched Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs in 3 D last Thursday at Berjaya Times Square and "9" DVD at home last night.

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.

One of goofiest animated movie I have ever seen. Small to humongous meatballs, burgers, macaroni and cheese falling from the skies....spiral spaghetti storm....this is the most cartoonish animated movie for me but this is one show that I have never seen and can imagine before. Very effective yet creative with a straightforward story. Inspired by Judi Barrett's children's book, it is about an inventor, Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) who builds a machine that converts water into food and becomes local hero when tasty treats fall from the sky like rain. Things went well but goes haywire when the machine spins out of control and threatens to bury the whole world with giants foods and Flint must find a way to stop it. The characters in the movie are quirky as well such as Sam Sparks (Anna Faris), a weather girl with the heart of a nerdy-girl-next-door, Tim (James Caan), the father, the scene where he tries to help his son by sending an email was hilarious and the others memorable characters as well.

The best part after watching this movie, believe me, is that you will suddenly feel hungry for food except chicken...why? you will know the answer after watching it..hehehe

"9"

This is a different ball game altogether. First and foremost, this animated movie is visually stunning. The overall storyline might not be so clearly defined and it is too scary for younger kids for it actions scenes but I truly truly love this movie...awesome...The renowned filmmaker, Tim Burton produced such a distinctively and thrilling tale. "9" stars Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer.

"9" is basically the story of 9 intricate, beautiful shaped and curious creatures who must dodge metal dogs, fight off a mechanized giant octopus like creatures and unlock a secret in a world where all humans are gone and the machines that roam the earth want to destroy them in the first place. Ermm...sound like the story you are familiar with? (Matrix and Wall-E combined). Each one of the nine creations has a distinct personality. "1" is bossy, opinionated and protective, "2" is a thinker and healer. "3" and "4" are twins who thrive on knowledge and study. "5" represents friendship and family. "6" is madness and secrets. "7" is agility and a warrior, "8" is strength and "1"'s bodyguard. "9".... ermm you have to figure out yourself...I would not be a spoiler for a good movie like this...

Amazing visual effect

Burlap heroes

Why were they created? Who was the inventor??

Fighting the machines..

Calling all hard-core sci fi geek, comic book lover or aspiring animators, go watch these movies ... I am none of those yet I really enjoyed it immensely...what will they think out next???

OPEN HOUSE - MINE AND OTHERS

There were so many raya open house invitations for me this year. Some I did attend, others I can't for some reasons but I made sure that I informed them beforehand as a sign of respect for the invitee... something I learn about simple invitation etiquette from my late father since I was a child....Enough about that....

I would like to thank among others Amri & Leo (Bukit Antarabangsa), Yus & Amir (Bandar Tasik Permaisuri), my relatives and my neighbour, the infamous Berita Harian's reporter, Farihad and his housemate for inviting me. Off course, the sweet surprise came when my friends and I were busy eating the yummy foods in Farihad's house, then came the most sensational couple in Malaysia and my idol no doubt, the two Datoks Siti and her husband...Datok K. Both of them looked dashing and sweet and at ease with all the people around them albeit the gaping mouth of one of my friends...And she did eat a lot...honest....I can't blame her, the mee udang and nasi ayam were mouth watering...plus the delicious homemade karipap made by A's were snapped clean once it were put on the table...

Courtesy of Farihad's facebook..me sitting far end hehe

Farihad's housmates & Siti

At Farihad's....

As for my own open house, it was held on Saturday nite, 10 Oct, 2009 at my house. I would like to thanks those who came especially BB group (thx for the fruits pickles), my close friends, Panzer, Is and Shah (thanks for coming late after giving promise to help., babab nanti..hehehe), Safuan...my relatives, Azman and Eddie, Nasrol & Sid, my neighbour, Farihad, Wan & Sharil. Rostam, Yus and the gangs, Epul and friends, Najib on behalf of Penang's friends, Ajib, Kzul, Heri, Imran from Melaka, Hadie from Jakarta, Amri & Leo and many others I am unable to mention here... A special thanks to Epul who without his help, I could not made it ready on time.....We all had a good time, despite a few hidden drama behind it, jeng jeng jeng hehehe... The last group to leave was at 3.00am after watching, Wanita Berkalong Sorban, a VCD I bought in Jakarta earlier this year.

Here in the pictures from my raya open house...

BB group among first to arrive..

My guests..

Old friends meet new friends...

Ajib entertaining us with few songs...

Makan jangan tak makan...

The foods, Laksa Johor, Nasi Minyak, Nasi Impit & many others..


Epul and friend

With Farihad and his housemate, Sharil..

Heri's cute son...

Happy and sweating as usual...hehehe

Again, thanks to all who turn up to my house the other day...God Willing, I will do it again next year.... I am smiling...my raya wish turn up to be true...ermmm...have a productive day...happy hari raya..........xoxo