Dragonball The Movie: Result

Dragonball The Movie: Result
I got a chance to watch the VCD of this movie... and here's my judgement:
I was actually relieved after watching the VCD... that I didn't waste my money on this at the movie theatres...

Probably the only redeeming factor is Jamie Chung... Yummy~

Cat Shit One

Cat Shit One
The Animated Series
via Dannychoo:
A new 3D animated Japanese series called Cat Shit One was previewed at the recent Tokyo Anime Fair. You may want to fast forward to 1:22 to see the action. Looks like some sort of Metal Gear Solid meets fluffy animals. Coming this winter. More information here (if you can read Japanese); based on a manga series.



And yes, its an animated series... that means it will be more than 1 episode... Kawaii ne~!

IP MAN

IP MAN  葉問

Simplified Chinese: 叶问

Hanyu Pinying: Yè Wèn

Official Site: http://www.ipman-movie.com/main_en.html

First day of 2009, watched this awesome action film directed by Wilson Yip, and starring Donnie Yen as Ip Man. So good, I'm gonna buy the original DVD.

Many pronounced the title wrongly; even the fella selling the tickets. Please DO NOT read the title as I.P. Man  in English style - I'll wring your neck. The name is to be promounced Cantonese style - Ip Man, or "Yip Mun". 

Worth 5 stars out of 5 stars! Seeing is believing! Watch the cut-scenes below.

Ip Man versus Liao Shifu:

Northerner versus Kung Fu Schools

Ip Man versus Northerner

Interview of Donnie Yen on Ip Man the movie

It was revealed by Donnie Yen himself that they only shot the "first-half... or one-third...". The second part's gonna be when Ip Man arrives in Hong Kong and his legacy goes on...

Underworld 3

Underworld 3
Rise of the Lycans

Coming to the cinemas near you, Sony Pictures presents the awesome Vampires versus Lycans movie~ this time round, the story arc centres around the period BEFORE Underworld part 1.

Official Site
International release dates; Singapore is 22th January 2009

View the trailer below:

Fighting Movies

Fighting Movies
Friends know that I am a movie freak. I watch lotsa shows, and naturally there are genres I like and dislike. If there is anything I could watch over and over again, its movies with lotsa painstakingly choreographed fighting moves.

Below are some titles I've watched in recent months, and I love them so much.

Chocolate / Fury
I have the DVD, so drop me an sms if anyone of you wanna borrow ya.Watch one of her many fight scenes here:

Oh, if there is any fighting idols I like, it isn't Jet Lee nor Jackie Chan, its Donny Yen. Watch his films below:

S.P.L. (杀破狼)

Flash Point (导火线)


(the Making of Flashpoint)

Legend of Zelda

Legend of Zelda
Epic win.


Q: probably the only thing that irks me is that release date... was that meant to be a joke or wat!?

Transformers 2

Transformers 2
Via Youtube:

Hold your breath...

CHARLIE YOUNG

CHARLIE YOUNG

Just watched Bangkok Dangerous... for 2 very good reasons - Nicholas Cage's always in good films... and there's Charlie Young!

Charlie stars as Fon, a deaf-mute girl working in a pharmacy; her very smile numbs pain and melts hearts... She didn't even have to speak a single word in the movie - her smile alone made my adrenaline rush~ I could get hurt many times just to find a reason to buy pain-killers and disinfectants from her...

One could tell that time has taken a toll on her, but she still looks damn attractive even without makeup! I guess that what we call a natural beauty eh?

Dragonball The Movie

Dragonball The Movie
Coming to a theatre near you on 13 March 2009...
Starring some American dude with spiky hair as Goku...
Jamie Chung (babelicious~!) as 琪琪 (Qi-Qi is Goku's Fiancee as kid)
Chow Yun Fatt (Yuck~) as 龟仙人
Emmy Rossum as 布马 (pre-teen)
Directed by James Wong (Final Destination)
and produced by Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle)...

No doubt CG technology has improved tremendously over the past decade, like many comments already all over the net, I shared the same feeling that this movie will not work out... but I am still gonna watch anyways... simply because of the human tendency to wanna watch catastrophes...

ah in case you wanna have a rough taste of how Dragonball Live Action might be:

Ashes of Time Redux

Ashes of Time Redux
Woohoo~ Wong Kar Wai got a handful of mega stars in this movie... Tony Leung, Leslie Cheung (what?!), Brigitte Lin (thats Lin Qing Xia for you), Maggie Cheung, Charlie Yeung (Yay!), Carina Lau, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Jacky Cheung... wow~

Ok, from my understanding, its actually a remake of the old Chinese film [东邪西毒].

Official Website here: http://www.sonyclassics.com/ashesoftimeredux/
View the Trailer in better resolution at the official website or you view it from Apples.
Alternatively, view its different versions of the trailer from Youtube before its taken down:

This is a 3:36 trailer:


This is a 5:34 min trailer:


This aside, watch the parody of [东邪西毒] called [东成西就].


Oh, while you are reminicing the old films, watch the latest upcoming version of "The Legend of the Condor Heros" [射雕英雄传]. Isn't 黄蓉 so adorable?

赤壁：女剑传

赤壁：女剑传
Stumbled upon a pretty interesting version of "赤壁" sometime back and thought I would share it here...


3月20日，完美时空首创真人CG·首部网游静像电影《赤壁：女剑传》首章公映。

该片是聘请《男人装》御用摄影师和专业演员拍摄的精美真人CG电影。故事描述蜀国虎将赵云成名之前的一段隐秘情史，剧情百转千回，感人肺腑。

首章故事梗概：
作为一名出生在战场上的男人，一生将与刀剑为伴，作为赵云的女人，放弃了纺织、刺绣，毅然的辅佐在他的身边，陪伴着他，哪怕是铸剑，甚至是舞剑。
也许这样也是另一种浪漫，双双舞剑带来的是别样的风情，感情升温的同时，更增进了彼此的舞剑技巧。看那潇洒男儿在林间大力挥动手中的剑，阵阵微风带来男子汉浓烈的气息，霸气之下树叶纷纷落下；

另一边，女子轻柔的飞上青天，飞舞间发丝缕动，衣衫飘逸，一番柔情媚态，一副唯美的画面静止在眼前，顿时忘却了自己身在何处。
每天的每天，作为赵云的妻子，陪他舞剑练剑是最惬意的事情，而其中更会发生一些不经意的意外，但是这些丝毫影响不了他们之间浓浓的情意，反之为他们之间的感情带来了更微妙的变化。心爱的男人为自己擦拭伤口，感受到他抚摸伤口时心中的疼痛，但此时此刻世间任何一个女子都会感觉到无比的幸福。
赵云，正义凛然，更喜欢拔刀相助，在看到战乱沙场之上倒下的女子时，英雄的本能促使他冲出相救，也许将开始一段不平常的情感交错，也许将改变一段平凡的感情生活……

继《赤壁：女剑传》首章火爆播出之后，近日该片的第二章节也震撼登场。赵云家破人亡，投蜀伐魏怒战敌军。

第一章讲述了赵云与女剑悠闲的田园生活，一场沉寂的大战在赵云从战场上救出孙尚香之后悄然发生。

第二章故事概括：
面对轻纱帐后沐浴的孙尚香，可曾有过心动？原来当日救下的女子正是豪爽女将孙尚香，脱去铠甲的她更加性感、更加妩媚、更加诱人。洗去身上的血迹之后，美艳绝伦的样子更因室内的薄雾，令人的大脑瞬间空白。

是不是女人的柔弱总会引起英雄们的怜悯，面对脱下战铠的孙尚香，赵云百般呵护。甚至亲自驾马护送她归营，面对此番此景，换了任何人心中早已经不是滋味了吧。而女剑，身为子龙的妻，给予了他万分的信任以及理解，就是在这样的理解下，她亲眼目送着自己的丈夫拥着别的女人离开。

世间的事情没有绝对的美好，经历过香艳遭遇的赵云，用一种不同的心情回到铸剑坊时，面前的一切似乎命中注定般瞬间将他击醒。大大的“曹”字旗插在铸剑师的尸体上，满目疮痍强烈的冲击着他的视线。片刻之后，仿佛时间静止，不可相信的搜寻妻子的身影，残破的衣服、横躺的尸体……没有，没有！女剑在哪里？女剑去了哪里？她还活着吗？

身为男人不应该活在悲伤之中，赵云睁开几夜没有合上带有血丝的双眼，眼中充斥着愤怒与坚持。一个男人的决定，一个战将的使命，他拿起了还有女剑气息的剑投奔到了刘备。
将痛苦转化为对抗曹操的愤怒，令他在战场更加的凶狠，果断。与孙尚香一同征战在沙场之上，与敌军进行着几天几夜的残酷厮杀，敌人在凶狠的俩人面前似乎犹如小草般脆弱，轻轻被刀剑拦腰砍断。

这样的局面马上就得到了扭转，曹营出现了一名十分善战的女将“战”，她似幽灵一般穿梭在人群中，以其灵巧的动作和娇柔的身躯轻松占据交战上风。而在与孙刘两军交战时，更是令两军死伤惨重，战场一度进入胶着状态，对于面前的女将，没有人知道她的背景。

孙尚香的自尊严重受到了伤害，一种莫名的怒火充斥在心房，掏出宝剑决定与这名女将来个生死之战。两个女人用人类原始的本能搏击，旁观之人无不为之担忧，而最终女将的技艺略胜一筹，一刀刺伤孙尚香，露出了那狡黠的笑，让人看了十分狰狞。

孙尚香惨败，赵云又去了哪里？这场战役难道以失败告终了吗？第三章将带来更加精彩的内容！

回顾《赤壁：女剑传》第三章，子龙找到自己的挚爱妻子之后，是何等的惊讶和高兴，并帮助自己的妻子恢复了失去的记忆。可是女剑深深的自责，悔恨自己的过去，对于自己沾满同胞鲜血的双手，痛苦而不能自拔。

这幅画太过于唯美，衬托不出这悲情的气氛，只有那淡淡的水波诉说着已经逝去的爱情。这张图片把故事画上了悲情的句号。子龙跪在爱妻身旁，紧握她的双手，悲痛的低下了头颅。也许只有这样紧握着，才能再回忆快乐的过去。

《赤壁：女剑传》到此也就全部告一段落，女剑故事虽然结束，但是赵云的征战却刚刚开始。远方的擂鼓已经响起，一场旷世国战正在酝酿。加入这场国战，来为世界添加新的力量，与英雄一起鏖战八方，创造三国新世纪。

赤壁之戰

[赤壁之戰]

The movie [赤壁] is coming soon... and I've already been pretty flustered over the loads of stupid questions from people around me. (Heck, you could be one of them). This is technically a guy's film, but one would most likely see more girls in the threatres than guys, whom most will finish the entire film and exit the threatre with a bucketful of drool and without an idea of the movie plot at all... (ok, this is a sweeping statement...)

Literally translating "赤壁" into "Red Cliffs" would have void the whole meaning.

Engravings over a thousand years old, on a cliff wall near modern Chibi City, Hubei.

I already know the many girls around me who are anxious over being the first one to watch the film BECAUSE of Tony Leung (as Zhou Yu) and Takeshi Kaneshiro (as Zhuge Liang)...

Well, the boys have Vicky Zhao (as Sun Shang-Xiang) and Lin Chi-Ling (as Xiao-Qiao) though...

BUT PLEASE... get your facts right before you go watch this film... dun go in and drool.... and come out asking lotsa stupid questions...

I already have people asking me the below stupid questions:
1) Zhuge Liang is good guy or bad guy?
2) Then what about Cao Cao? Good or bad?
3) Why is it called 赤壁?

My view: All are GOOD GUYS; whoever risks their lives for the sake of their nations / territories are HEROS to their own country. They just happened to have different lords and come from different sides...

................

Zhou Yu (starring Tony Leung), from [Wu 吳], Sun Ce's sworn brother. After Sun Ce's died, his brother, Sun Quan, succeeded the throne, and appointed Zhou Yu as his Naval Commander.
Zhuge Liang (starring Takeshi Kaneshiro), also known as 孔明, or 臥龍, is from the [Shu 蜀] side. I will kill you if you dunno who this fella is...

Sun Shang-Xiang (starring Vicky Zhao), sister to Sun Quan and Sun Ce, wedded Liu Bei.

Sun Quan (starring Zhang Zhen), from [Wu 吳], son of Sun Jian, and succeeded his eldest brother, Sun Ce, at the age of 18.Xiao Qiao (starring Lin Chi-Ling), wife to Zhou Yu. Xiao Qiao's name was not in the historical records, hence she and her older sister were simply referred to as Da-Qiao and Xiao-Qiao.
Cao Cao (starring Zhang Feng-Yi), from [Wei 魏]. This fella has a reputation for being the "bad guys"... to me, he united Northern China, and wanted to unify the rest of the China. He's good!

Zhao Zi Long (starring Hu Jun), also known as Zhao Yun, from [Shu 蜀] side. I have not much ideas about him...
Gan Xing / Gan Ning (starring Shido Nakamura), I have no freaking idea on this character... if you find this guy familiar, go re-watch Jet-Li's [霍元甲], he's the Japanese Judo fighter.

Some points to know:

• Records / Chronicles of the 3 Kingdoms = the historical facts...
• Romance of the 3 Kingdoms = Romanticised and exaggerated account...
• The 4 great classical novels of Chinese literature = 三國演義 /水滸傳 / 西遊記/ 紅樓夢
• The 3 Kingdoms period = 220BC - 280BC
• The 3 Kingdoms = [Wei 魏], [Shu 蜀], and [Wu 吳].
• The battle at 赤壁... simply put, its Cao Cao's [Wei 魏] side marching South-wards in an attempt to conquer and unify China. But they're met with the alliance / coalition army of Liu Bei's [Shu 蜀] and Sun Quan's [Wu 吳], preventing him from doing so...
• Why is it called 赤壁? Hmmm... actually I have no ideas too~

Now, who wants to treat me to the movies?

AH LONG PTE LTD

Just returned from watching this very local production... I must say Jack Neo did another good job at bringing laughter to the audience~! I was laughing uncontrollably together with the rest of the movie audiences throughout the show!

I ain't gonna dwell into the "hidden meanings", if any to begin with, this movie might be trying to hint at, as Jack Neo has always done, recklessly poking fun at our ever-sensitive government and risking a visit to the police station for kopi~


(Picture above: screen-captured from http://www.mediacorpraintree.com/ahlong/; do visit the website.)

However, I couldn't help but noticed several parts being censored away... either the fellas at the snipping room deserves to be shown the door, permanently, or perhaps audiences like me simply has very sharp eyes.

I also remembered very clearly having watched a trailer where it shows a part the 老大 (played by Richard Low) mentioning about Temasek Holdings having an interest in "Shao He Traid"...

BUT, this portion was NOT shown during the movie.

I seriously hope the DVD release has an extended version... Director's cut, if any. I HATE censored films.

Mark Lee did a very good job with the Malaysian accent, and he just reminds me so much of Louisa and friends. Mark Lee's sissy role just made him so funny~ I simply enjoyed the different languages they used: Mandrin, Singlish, Hokkien, Cantonese, and Melayu; it just made the movie so local and so close to us audiences. Its something only Uniquely Singapore~ (and Malaysia)!

This movie is already a hot discussion topic at the kopi-tiam , and subjects that went around the table were:

1) Possible reasons why was the part mentioning about Temasek Holdings missing;
2) Possible reasons why Jack Neo moved the entire filming set over to Malaysia;
3) A traid name which really exists during the early times of Singapore that closely resembles the name "Shao He Traid"; and
4) The intrinsic meaning of this movie...

Well, afterall, its all kopi-tiam talk amongst some uncles... entertaining and mind-intriguing. How accurate? I leave the thinking to you...