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My Movie Watching List 2010 – Part 1

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This is the first part of the series, please read the second and third part, too.

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). It’s spoiler-free too.

History:

  • 24-Mar: added How to Train Your Dragon
  • 10-Mar: added Alice in Wonderland
  • 22-Feb: added the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, My Ex, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Disclaimer: reviews and scores are biased to my preference, your mileage may vary

5. How to Train Your Dragon

Score: 9

This is another surprise. With a lot of animated movies flooding the market recently, this one is way way above my expectation. The dragons in this movie are not typical dragons. DreamWorks really works its magic by creatively bringing a lot of types of dragons which vary in size, color, nature, and skill to life. These flying reptiles are both scary and lovable. They are even lovelier than golden retrievers. I hope I can get one as a pet :D

And have I mentioned that you gotta see a lot of them?

How to Train Your Dragon is based on a book with the same title, but the plot was altered to make it more suitable and entertaining for the big screen.

This movie is still in the sneak preview period here in Singapore. Currently it’s only available in 3D but it’s worth the extra premium to see these lovely and wild creatures in 3D. Starting tomorrow (25-Mar), it will be screened in 2D cinemas as well.

Most of DreamWorks animated movies look great, but this one really rocks. The battle scenes are really engaging and you’ll see them quite often, from the beginning to the end. However, I think it’s a bit too dark in some early scenes. The dragons can look scary when they feel threatened, cute when befriended, and beautiful when flying. The voice actors are not the most popular ones — except Gerard Butler which you see practically everywhere lately — but they fill the roles well. Not outstanding, but pretty much okay. The story is a bit typical of children story, nevertheless, the plot is quite well executed.

Overall, this is a fantastic movie. It tells good moral values. Suitable for everyone from kids to adults.

4. Alice in Wonderland

Score: 6

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.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

3. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Score: 7

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.

2. My Ex

Score: 6

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.

1. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Score: 7

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.

James Cameron’s Avatar

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Avatar Poster, courtesy of Wikipedia

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:

  1. It is created by James Cameron—a truck driver who became a movie maker after watching George Lucas’ Star Wars.
  2. It takes 15 years for James Cameron to make and release the movie from the moment he wrote the script.
  3. US$ 237 387 million was spent to make and market, which makes it one of the most expensive movie ever made.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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:

  1. 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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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.