Inception

Still in transition between staying awake & sleepy mode after touchdown upon returning from Perth, WA last Sunday - haven't got enough sleep yet...

A perfect time to preview this film:

Written & directed by Christopher Nolan, who's climbing the steps of acclaimed filmmaker.

In short: This movie is about "exploring the idea of people sharing a dream space - entering a dream space and sharing a dream. That gives you the ability to access somebody’s unconscious mind. What would that be used and abused for?"

When I was in Perth, saw a lot of ads for this movie. Not surprising, since Nolan's last film (The Dark Knight) was overwhelmingly successful & starred by a Perth originated actor - Heath Ledger ofcoz.

For years, Nolan made-from-heart-films have never failed to impress most critics & moviegoers and so far these are the reviews for Inception:

1. Film School Rejects (A+)
2. CHUD (10/10)
3. JoBlo (10/10)
4. Empire (5/5)
5. Indie Wire (5/5)

What else to say... Damn Chris Nolan, make us impatience for his next Batman!

Pendekar Bujang Lapok (1959)

Ihh... ihh... ihh... ihh...

Alkisahhh... Alkisah maka tersebut lah kisahhh... Sang Kancil datang beramai-ramai mengadap ke bawah duli yang maha mulia Sultan Firaunnn...

Mambang mabuk minum brandy...

Alip.. Ya.. Mim... Buaya!

Mata di tengah-tengah? Ada ekor? Atas tanah? Aa.. Huruf mambang tanah!

Cobaaaan!

These are the dialogues that keep Malaysians laughing for 50 years.

How did the great Allahyarham Tan Sri P. Ramlee & friends able to create such comedy film that lasted for so long?

In addition, growing up for nearly 29 years watching the his movies has enabled me to memorized most of the lines...

Compare to current so called comedians that make us feel annoyed rather than laughed.

Finally... The Dark Knight

No other movie that I sincerely wanted to blog other than The Dark Knight (2008).

Yes, I admit I am a Bat-maniac.

The film follows Bruce Wayne/Batman, Lieutenant James Gordon & District Attorney (DA) Harvey Dent struggle to deal with the chaos unleashed by an anarchist mastermind known only as the Joker. While Batman pushes himself to the extent of beyond normal heroism and Gordon have to deal with it, Harvey Dent transforms from the heroic DA to the disfigured killer Two-Face.

This movie is more a crime movie than a superhero/comic book movie. It depicts the gritty escalation in criminal underworld caused by a man fighting it while dressed up as a giant bat & a fallen hero succumbs due of his passion in legal justice. Not to forget the Joker who is a "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy".


This movie was a both critical & commercial success garnering worldwide praises & a $999,292,907 gross revenue. However it was snubbed (idiot!) in the upcoming Oscar & failed to contest in Best Screenplay, Best Director & Best Movie categories. It was nominated for other 8 categories anyhow.

As a tradition of amirmukhtar reviews:

This movie shows a hero (Batman) sacrifices his image to ensure the people will not lose hope after the Joker successfully turn a legal hero (Dent) into a killer.


Batman persuaded Police Commissioner Gordon to blame himself (Batman) responsible for the murders.


Dent's heroism was purely due to his personalities & position as a legal official while Batman heroism is based on a symbol. And a symbol is indestructible and incorruptible .

Morale:

Don't you think we should always elect a hero/leader based on the symbol/principles rather than personalities & position (and sweet promises)?

Leaders come & go...

But principles will remain whoever fill the post.

National Treasure (2004)

Since 81st Academy Awards will be held this weekend, my entries for this 1-2 weeks will be focusing on & around films & movies. However they all will be in amirmukhtar ways...

National Treasure, a 2004 adventure movie starring Nicolas Cage about a search of worldwide lost treasure guarded by the Knights Templar & Freemason which leads to a invisible map at the back of US Declaration of Independence & the stealing of it. The film was very interesting & entertaining. It was a fun mixture of conspiracy theories, fictionalized twist of real life history & sort of like The Da Vinci Code style.

I remembered watching it in GSC Mid Valley on an evening just as I arrived in KL from KB. Damn... Couldn't even managed to reach my rental house in Pantai Dalam...

Among all the fun & pure entertainment, there were 2 lines that really caught my attention. One is when the protagonist reads a line from the Declaration of Independence:

"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

Still no idea?

In simple words:

If there's something wrong,
those who have the ability to take action
have the responsibility to take action.

The other line is near the end of the movie,
regarding The Founding Fathers of America believed that a government was too great for any one man to have, therefore the only solution is to give it to the people...

How noble words,

How appropriate are they with our current situations,

How I wish my entry will reach voters in Bukit Selambau & Bukit Gantang.

Anybody care to help?

Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen

This is my first attempt on film preview.

I'm not really a huge fan of Transformers but the robots in disguise have a special place in my history. 20 years ago, one of my first toys is actually a Decepticon, a gift from my uncle who was studying in Japan at that time.

Fast forward to 2007, a live action Transformers movie was the highest grossing movie in Malaysia. I'm one of the contributor...

This summer, the robots will return to big screen & I mean BIG 'coz it will also be in IMAX & in 3D. FYI, IMAX 3D is far more advance from Jaws 3D which you have to wear the cheap-ass red-green spectacles. It's like comparing a Cybertronian robot with an Earth robot.

Back to the film, this time Sam Witwicky discovers something about the origins of the Transformers and their history on Earth. The evil Decepticons need to capture him for information. The climactic battle takes place at the Giza Pyramid Complex, where a temple is located within. The film will show the Transformers who visited Egypt before the pyramids were built, and all heroes end up there because of the Decepticons' masterplan.

The teaser looked good & this film might be able to surpass it's predecessor.

Cool badguys will include The Fallen, who in Transformers universe is one of the original Transformers & the one responsible to divide the Transformers.

Another one is (or rather are) Constructicons, a group of construction vehicles Decepticons that can combine into the gigantic Devastator. If you have seen the teaser, the giant robot that Optimus Prime jumps off on it will only form the torso.

Believable rumors are Megatron is resurrected and a sex scene.

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Oopss...

Don't try to fantasize a sex scene that involves the super-hot Megan Fox ok?

The scene will involve Optimus Prime himself.

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Yuck!!!

OK, just kidding. Actually Mr Prime will also combine with another high class robot & seriously I hope nothing sexual between them.

I'm definitely looking forward for this movie however since the Executive Producer is Steven Spielberg & I'm still in Israel-boycotting mood, I might have to pass it or at least thinking twice before watching...

The Legend of Bruce Lee - Wachaaa!!!

Being a martial arts fan (even though I have never seriously learned any - save for a few basic steps of karate) I could not resist gluing myself to 8TV every night to watch "The Legend of Bruce Lee" series. It claimed to be a proper tribute to Lee compared to the movie "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story". The script of the series was also approved by Shannon Lee - Lee's daughter who's also served as executive producer.

Honestly I was fooled by the uncanny resemblance of the actor, Danny Chan Kwok Kuen with Bruce Lee himself. Ceh! There will also be guest appereances by Ray Park (Darth Maul), Mark Dacascos & Michael Jai White (Spawn & Gambol in The Dark Knight), among others who will fight Chan' Bruce Lee.

It also claims to tell some untold stories about Bruce Lee, which I hope will include the highly controversial (or fabricated & exaggerated) fight with the Silat Gayung Master Dato' Meor Abdul Rahman (arwah) but that seems unlikely since promotional photos/clips never show Lee fighting a Silat practitioner.

Some silat students (mostly teenagers) claimed that the fight was the cause of Lee's death due to Meor Rahman used a special (ilmu batin) palm technique called "Kipas Senandung". While a high ranking Silat Practitioner who claimed he witnessed the fight (which took place in a private room in Hong Kong Airport in early 70's) said it was just a skill sharing fight between 2 martial art grandmasters without harming each other.

To me, whether the Jeet Kune Do vs Silat Gayung fight really took place or not or which story is true is not important.

The most important thing is that I have an exciting TV series to watch so that I can spend my boring & lonely evening in Tronoh... haha...

And as Lee's widow last line in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story :

"All these years later, people still wonder about how he died. I prefer to
remember how he lived. "

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Wachaaa!!!