My Movie Watching List 2010
Since I’m really into movies, I’d like to continue blogging about this topic for the time being.
This post is only a list to keep track of what movies I have watched in 2010. I’ll try to keep this list updated, especially with the movies I watch in the theaters. Scoring is from 1 (worst) to 10 (best).
Disclaimer: reviews and scores are biased to my preference, your mileage may vary
4. Alice in Wonderland
A popular classic story, directed by the unique Tim Burton, backed with a high budget, with the renowned casts like Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, and Helena Bonham Carter, and the awesome US$ 116.1 million breaking opening weekend box office records, will prove that this movie is one of this year’s top pick. Or not!
Last night (Mar 9) I came to the Grand Cathay to watch this movie. The Grand Cathay is currently, in my opinion, the best non-premium cinema in Singapore. With the size comparable to the GVmax cinema, it is also THX certified. Since Alice in Wonderland is not a pure 3-D movie — unlike Avatar, it’s filmed in 2-D and later converted to 3-D — I’d rather watch it in a bigger 2-D cinema than the smaller 3-D cinemas.
The movie is visually appealing. Tim Burton managed to build the wonderland wonderfully. The characters were alive and the casts were great. But unfortunately, the pace was quite slow to my taste. It couldn’t keep me excited throughout the whole duration of the movie, not even half. There were not enough surprises, if any. And the battle scene was so typical as other animated movies.
Score: 6
3. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
The visual effect displayed on the trailer and the theme (Greek mythology) were the main attraction to me. At first, I thought that it was yet another Harry Potter-wannabe teenage movie (and it seemed that it was), so I didn’t put much expectation other than great visual effect for my viewing pleasure.
After watching the premiere show at GV Plasa Singapura on Feb 11, I found the movie quite enjoyable and entertaining. It was fast-paced and loaded with fresh humors. It turned out to be a fun parody of the Greek mythology. The cast could definitely be better though veterans such as Pierce Brosnan and Uma Thurman were involved as supporting roles.
Score: 7
2. My Ex
Horror is one of my favorite genre when it comes to theatrical movies. The problem is that it can be though to find companions to watch this kind of movies. Companions that won’t scream during the play. At least I got two friends who were interested to watch this movie last Feb 8 at GV Tiong Bahru.
My Ex is a Thai-horror movie. So the cast is not familiar to me. One of the main character, however, was very attractive. She is a fairly known Thai model and actress called Wanida Termthanaporn a.k.a. Giftzy, so it’s not hard to find her pictures if you’d like to know what I meant.
The movie, though pretty predictive, was packed with a nice dosage of surprising and shocking moments. But the make-up was kinda disappointing, it can’t help the acting skill of the actors which was mediocre at best.
Score: 6
1. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Although this movie was released back in 2009, I watched it only recently on Feb 6 at Cathay Cineleisure, Orchard. Partly because my girlfriend told me that the movie was bad. Still I wanted to watch it because of the great list of cast: Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law. And of course because I like fantasy-themed movies.
Well, although it’s not a really really good movie, but it’s not that bad either. The actors also played pretty well to live up to their great names. The effect of Heath Ledger’s death during the making of the film was cleverly covered by the other actors.
Score: 7
10 Must-See Movies in 2010
James Cameron’s Avatar has closed 2009 and at the same time, opened 2010 with record-breaking result. Now let’s see the next batch of movies to expect in this year.
1. Shutter Island
Release Date: February 19
Why? After Gangs of NewYork (2002), Martin Scorsese seemed to love Leonardo DiCaprio so much they worked together in all recent Scorsese’s movies. The previous three movies of their collaboration brought 26 Oscar nominations, of which 9 were won; culminating with the last movie, titled The Departed (2006), which won 4 out of 5 nominated Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. After that much of collaboration and achievements, we can only expect better from them, or not?
2. Alice in Wonderland
Release Date: March 5
Why? Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, and Helena Bonham Carter. Popular people in a popular story, enough said.
3. Clash of the Titans
Release Date: March 26
Why? Because I always like the Greek mythology, especially when it is played by the rising star Sam Worthington.
4. Iron Man 2
Release Date: May 7
Why? Iron Man (2008) was a cool and highly praised by critics. Based on the movie franchise history (Spider-Man, Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean), the second installments usually were better than the first. Based on the same history, the third were usually the worst.
5. Robin Hood
Release Date: May 14
Why? The legend of the nemesis of the rich but friend of the poor is so popular it has been filmed 9017841 times. Honestly I don’t expect a lot from this 9017842nd remake. But Russell Crow may bring something fresh.
6. Shrek Forever After a.k.a. Shrek 4 a.k.a. Shrek: The Final Chapter
Release Date: May 21
Why? Sure Shrek the Third (2007) was disappointing, but this is the final chapter, and everyone will want to know whether the green ogres will finally live truly happily ever after. This is the most important part of every princess-material story.
7. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Release Date: May 28
Why? Based on a legendary PC game and powered by $200 million budget doesn’t mean this movie won’t suck. But still, I’d like to see my childhood game hero on the big screen.
8. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Release Date: June 30
Why? Ask the girls, why! Okay I’m not a girl, but still the battle visualization between vampires and werewolves is always interesting to see.
9. The Last Airbender
Release Date: July 2
Why? I rarely followed television series. Avatar, the Last Airbender from Nickelodeon was the rare exception. I enjoyed the series and I only hope, this live-action film won’t suck as much as Dragonball Evolution (2009).
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Release Date: November 19
Why? Unless you worship the books so much you consider the films are blasphemy, you will want to see this. Luckily I don’t read the books, so the movies are just fine for me.
In case you don’t know, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the last book of the series and it will be split into two films. The first part will be released this year while the second part will be released on 15 July 2011. While surely it won’t stop the usual criticism that the movie was not as detailed as the novel version, it will still provide more details than the previous movies. So, considering this is the first part of the last movie, make sure you don’t miss it if you have been following it.
Other movies worth to mention
2010 will have much more movies, but my list is limited to 10. There are definitely other movies you might want to consider:
- Sex and the City 2 (May 28)
- The A-Team (June 11)
- Toy Story 3 (June 18)
- Jonah Hex (June 18)
- Inception (July 16)
All images are courtesy of Wikipedia.
James Cameron’s Avatar
Avatar Poster, courtesy of Wikipedia
This is the movie I’ve been waiting since the first time I heard about it. And this is the very movie I actually had a real expectation of the entertainment experience. Why? I have at least six reasons:
- It is created by James Cameron—a truck driver who became a movie maker after watching George Lucas’ Star Wars.
- It takes 15 years for James Cameron to make and release the movie from the moment he wrote the script.
- US$ 237 387 million was spent to make and market, which makes it one of the most expensive movie ever made.
- It’s the first James Cameron’s movie in 12 years, the last being Titanic—which currently holds the all-time worldwide box office record making more than US$1.8 billion and won 11 Oscars including best picture and best director.
- The release was intentionally delayed to allow the movie-making technology to evolve good enough to satisfy James Cameron’s expectation and to give more time for theaters to install 3D screens.
- The movie was made in collaboration with Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital and George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic. So if you think The Lords of the Rings, Star Wars, or Transformers are visually stunning, you have to think twice after watching Avatar.
So last night, I watched the movie—which I had bought the ticket a week earlier—at the premiere show to see whether it can live up to my expectations.
Since Avatar was created specially in 3D, I decided to watch the 3D version. Here in Singapore, although you can find 3D theaters easily, unfortunately there are no decent 3D theaters, despite the higher ticket price. Golden Village 3D theaters are so small. The Cathay 3D cinemas look bigger but unfortunately there are no suitable show times for me. So I chose the Shaw cinema that offered a big screen and well-timed. The Shaw’s cinema also has the supposedly more advanced 3D technology from RealD. When I got there, however, I was disappointed. The building looked very old. The acoustic wasn’t so nice. The seating arrangement was not ideal since the elevation between rows was too subtle. Well, I still hoped the movie wouldn’t disappoint like the theater did.
So this is my verdict on Avatar:
-
Story
Actually, this is the one single element that I didn’t have high expectation on. Well, Avatar was written by James Cameron, not Dan Brown or J.K. Rowling. Its story was not taken from a best-selling novel. So I was ready for a Transformers-class story.
It’s quite surprising though, the story was quite deep. Cameron managed to create the beautiful planet, Pandora, complete with detail pictures of the inhabitants and the environment. Cameron even went as far as The Lord of the Rings and Star Trek, with the help of Paul Frommer, creating a whole new language and culture for the Na’vi, the native race inhabiting Pandora. Did I mention that the language comes with a unique accent, too? Soon this language may be as popular as The Lord of the Rings’ Elven language or Star Trek’s Klingon. It seems that Cameron is ready for Avatar’s sequels or even saga.
Still, the story was lacking of unpredictable plots and twists.
Score: 7
-
Cast
Sigourney Weaver again joins Cameron’s crew after Aliens in 1986. Rising star, Sam Worthington, plays the lead role. Zoë Saldaña also plays a central character as a Na’vi. You will find Michelle Rodriguez a familiar face if you often watch action movies.
The cast is okay, but nothing spectacular. I personally think Zoë Saldaña deserves a special attention. Despite the fact that we won’t get the chance to see her real face—since only the computer-generated images of her will be displayed—but the expressiveness of her character and voice in the movie are dominating.
Score: 7
-
Sound and Music
James Horner is together again with Cameron after his Oscar-winning work in Titanic. The music scores sound natural and blend well with the Na’vi culture. I also enjoyed the theme song, “I See You”, which is performed by Leona Lewis.The sound effects and mixing were not disappointing. It’s so unfortunate that the cinema where I watched the movie, the sound system was below average. It’s ironic considering with only 1/3 of the ticket price, Indonesia’s theaters can provide a decent and even THX-certified sound.
Score: 8
-
Visual Effect
Two words: amazingly stunning.
Seriously, this movie makes even Transformers like child’s play. The rendition of the planet, animals, inhabitants are so realistic, and you get to see them in the 3D goodness. Each element is beautifully designed and drawn. The mixing between the live-action actors and computer-generated elements are blended seamlessly. Although I don’t really like the form and visualization of the Na’vi, but I have to admit how realistic they are. Don’t just take what I say, go see it for yourself. Or just check the HD trailer.
Score: 10
In conclusion, I highly recommend this movie to every movie lovers. This James Cameron’s piece may change the future of movies.
