Movie Review: Alvin and the Chipmunks Squeakquel

This is Great! Need I say more? The chipmunks are back! This is exactly the kind of movie that could melt the hearts of all the audiences in the theater. It doesn't have to have a great story behind it, all it needed was make those chipmunks shake those bom bom and everyone went: soooo cuttteeee!!

The story started with what was left off in the previous movie. The evil guy Ian ended up staying in the dumpster, totally lifeless while the 3 singing chipmunks (Alvin, Simon and Theodore) sing their way through in the concerts. But due to some kind of accident, they were moved from Dave to the grandma place to be taken care of by grandma and enrolled for school as well. Literally, they don't learn a thing at school but instead they became the icon for the school singing contest. There was introduction of female version of Chipmunks in this movie, Chipettes. In fact, there are also 3 of them, Brittany, Jeanette and Elanor. The story of how they come about, I will leave it for you to find out yourself.

All of them are adorable. Theodore and especially Theodorable. I love him very very much and I think they (Theodore and Elanor) make a really good match. Hah!

It's worth watching at the cinema, with great sound and visuals. You won't regret spending the ticket price on it. So, go enjoy!

Movie Review: The Fourth Kind

I know, my rating is miserable for this. This was impromptu. I didn't have any plan of watching it. But there was this few hours we needed to kill, before watching another show, we have decided to just try this out. One comment, we were cheated!


There were rumours about this movie being a true story. It's all loads of craps. This aint real. It's all made-up and totally an outcome of imaginary Alien Abduction.

The story is based on the mystery of people gone missing in a small town called Nome in Alaska. The supposedly real Psychiatrist named Abbey Tyler (played by the Resident Evil star Milla Jovovich) stayed in this town and one night, her husband got murdered. In order to find the source of how the husband was murdered and why, she got herself into the mystery of Alien Abduction. She came across patients who are sleep deprived and have kinda the same symptoms of sleeping disorders. Someone has been disturbing them while they were asleep. Like I've mentioned, it all came down to one possibility, the Alien Abduction. A lot of hypnotisation involved in this movie, in order to retrieve the memories of the victims of possible abduction.

The movie did explain why it was called the fourth kind. If I don't remember wrongly, the first kind of evidence is people claiming of seeing UFO. The second is seeing Aliens, the third, having contact with Aliens and the fourth, the abduction where Aliens abduct human being to torture and that the disaster they face during the abduction was beyond our imagination. Quite obvious, the movie didn't exactly show how they torture people. Or even, didn't even show how the supposedly real Aliens look like.

This movie greatly reminded me of other movies of the same types Clover Field and The Paranormal Activity. They aren't real but to make it closer to the reality, the movie did NOT reveal anything. It just leaves the audiences hanging somewhere in between. The same old story of, 'This is really happening somewhere, whether or not you believe it, is your choice' bullshit.

The show is only 95 minutes long and it doesn't worth your ticket to the movie and the trip to the cinema. This might already be out for viewing online somewhere. If you eager to watch it, go find some source and watch it online. Just giving 1 star solely for the actress.

Movie Review: Princess And The Frog

11 year old girl in me told me that she loved this movie very much! =) And the other fellow 10 years olds in the cinema enjoyed the movie too, proving with their giggles and laughter.

I went to this movie with 2 mothers, both enjoyed the show and commented that their kids would love this too. The line to the ticket booth at Shaw, Lot 1 shopping mall was ridiculously long and the people in the line barely moves. I got hold of my tickets 5 minutes before starting of the show, although I joined the line half an hour beforehand. That's how bad that was.

This is another animated film from Disney, in my opinion, yet another great show after the recent blast movie UP. Only difference is that, Princess and the Frog is not 3D animated. It's the old school 2D and reminded me of those cartoons I've grown up watching when I was a small kid. This is one of those movies I ended up watching without prior preview of the trailer. It's always a safe bet to watch Disney's cartoon and how much can it go wrong, right?

The story was great, unpredictable at times. I thought, Princess Charlotte voiced by Jennifer Cody was a little too hyper. The girl of the real age in me told me that the movie could do without those musical-like scenes in it, but again it's targeted for kids who definitely enjoyed those. So, it's kinda like a debate within myself. If you have a small kid at home, your cousin, your niece (girls will enjoy more cuz it's a little princessy and girly) or your own kids, bring them to this movie. They will enjoy this. The only downside is that the frogs can be designed to look a little cuter but oh well, how cute a frog can get. Hah!

Book Review: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

This is going to be very remarkable because I'm giving this book a 5 stars, which I hardly do to any other books that I've read. This was a borrow from a colleague. First introduction to the book was from the motion picture, the same name as the book, starring Cameron Diaz as Sara Fitzgerald and Abigail Breslin as Anna Fitzgerald. This 13 year old girl was the one from the recent movies Nim's Island and Definitely, May Be in 2008. It's always a safe decision to buy or rent the book that has been converted to a movie because most likely the story has to be good to be made into a movie and coz no one in the movie industry will commit suicide by attempting to make a good movie out of a bad book, right?

I read this book initially, with a light heart knowing this is going to be another movie like book with not much of a substance in it. I knew it was a touching story from the trailer I've seen for the movie. I didn't think this was a big deal. And I'm giving this a 5 stars not because of its sadness, but because I fell right into the awesome writing style of the Author Jodi Picoult.

The first thought that has crossed my mind while reading a few chapters through this is that, 'I'm so gonna own this book!'. This is exactly the kind of book that I'd collect to read it again and again in years to come. I have this imaginary study room filled with the ceiling-high shelves and shelves of books that you have to use a ladder to reach to the top of the shelves. Okay, enough said.

My first comment - 'This book is awesome!'. There are a LOT of things you can learn through this book. The emotion, the tragedy, the thinking in the shoes of so many different characters, etc. It's hard to be thinking, speaking and being in the shoes of someone else, but it's harder to be in the same as many other people. But Jodi breeze through the book taking the place in the head of many different characters, at one time, she was 13 years old girl, at another, she's 30+ year old firefighter dad and another, she's a lawyer mom who fights for the kidney that is needed to keep her daughter away from her near death situation. It is extremely awesome how she could do that. Most of the books I've come across are the authors putting their pen through a character and the things revolves around that main character.

Okay, there's good and bad in doing this - being in so many different selfs. Good thing is, you know how exactly they feel about a situation and the different take from the same event. But the bad is that, you lose track of who you are at different point of time. But Jodi managed to eliminate this part of loosing track by separating the chapters by the different character and stating the time stamp of when it happens. I totally love this book!

The story is about the 13-year old girl who has been the constant donor for her dying sister since the day she was born. Not forgetting that she was born with a purpose in life, that is to save her sister. She was genetically designed to be the perfect donor match for her 2-yrs old dying sister. But one day, she has decided to file for a petition against her parent for the emancipation from making her a kidney donor for her sister. It's awesome how Jodi could pen through a 13 year old girl's head, I don't even remember how it feels like to be a 13-year-old girl anymore. I can't help but to spill some of the bits and pieces of the book here.

Anna Fitzgerald
"I was born for a very specific purpose. I wasn't the result of a cheap bottle of wine or a full moon or the heat of the moment. I was born because of scientist managed to hook up my mother's eggs and my father's sperm to create a specific combination of precious genetic material. In fact, what Jesse (her brother) told me how babies get made and I, the great disbeliever, decided to ask my parents the truth, I got more than i bargained for."

Sara Fitzgerald (Anna & Kate's Mom)
"When you have been with your partner for so many years, they become the glove compartment map that you've worn dog-eared and white-creased, the trail you recognize so well you could draw it by heart and for this very reason keep it with you on journeys at all times. And yet, when you least expect it, one day you open your eyes and there is an unfamiliar turnoff, a vantage point that wasn't there before, and you have to stop and wonder if maybe this landmark isn't new at all, but rather something you have missed all along."

Kate Fitzgerald
"For a long time, I was sick. The transplant nearly failed, and then, inexplicably, I began the long steep climb upward. It has been eight years since my last relapse, something not even Dr. Chance can understand. He thinks it is a combination of the ATRA and the arsenic therapy - some contributing delayed effect - but I know better.

Grief is a curious thing, when it happens unexpectedly. It is a Band-Aid being ripped away, taking the top layer off a family. And the underbelly of a household is never pretty, ours no exception. There were times I stayed in my room for days on end with headphones on, if only so that I would not have to listen my mother cry. There were the weeks that my father worked round-the-clock shifts, so that he wouldn't have to come home to a house that felt too big for us."

In my opinion, the book has its beauty of twist and turn and of how it presented itself. I'd say a Must-Read if you are the lover for books, like me.

Movie Review: Avatar

To be extremely honest, watching this movie didn't cross my mind despite the fact that I've seen the trailer many times over again whenever I was seated in the cinema to watch another movie. I'm definitely not a fan of animated flicks, more so if it's a combination of both - animation and real acts. But I know this movie has topped the chart and that many people around me have started to talk about this and this fuss made me go - okay I might watch this. And there I was 3 days ago, seated at the 4th row from the screen with cramped neck half enjoying the show. Seated too near to the screen isn't any help in trying to focus on what's showing. The giddy spell has taken its toll and I was in need of some medicated oil or in worst case, a plastic bag (you know what it might be useful for) in just 15 mins from the start. That's when I told myself that - it's okay. Juz try to rest. I can always have a second chance to watch this show, if not a third or a fourth.

In my opinion the movie has earned its rightful credit. Everything in it was grand, technology - impressive, mythology - awesome and dreamlike, emotional aspects - endearing. Although the plots are rather predictable, I've enjoyed the show. If you have not watch it, you might want to skip the rest of the review and should go enjoy it for yourself cuz it definitely worth the money and the time, oh forgot to mention, it's a long movie with close to 2 and a half hours running time. My first impression when I saw this as trailer was - Avatar is all about ugly creature! And I'm not going to watch it. Well obviously you can tell that I thought I was wrong cuz I'm giving this a 4 star. I enjoyed this movie more even more than the recent blockbuster 2012. No kidding!

If you don't mind knowing more about Avatar, here are some info I've gathered and thought they are worth sharing. The story is about the group of army troops with the help of intelligent scientists, planned the mission to search for some kind of rare stones which worth a fortune. They believe that these stones exist in Planet Pandora. However, in order to get what they want, they first has to get rid of the residents in Planet Pandora called Navi. The lead actor (Sam Worthington) was assigned to this mission to learn things from the Navis and to gain their trust in order to make them leave the planet they live in. Through the mission, he has learnt many things about the true culture of Navis and as expected, fallen in love with the land as well as the girl - who's the daughter of Navi King. That was the reason why I mentioned it was kinda predictable. However, i shall not reveal anymore of the story since I need to respect those who have not watched it yet.

I didn't have a lot of movie memories with the main actor but he seems rather familiar to me. It took me a recall from my boyfriend that he was the Wright guy in The Terminator Salvation movie. I must say it's awesome how they make this guy's leg looking very much dead. He acted great but irritation at first how he set his curious self free without thinking about the danger he might face in the unknown forest. We got to see both of his human self and avatar self. Unlike for the actress Zoe Saldana, she was the real Navi in Planet Pandora, so we didn't get to see her human self, I needed google's help to find out who she was.

Anyways, the bottom line is, my view of lame and ugly creatures has turn a 360 degrees. I left cinema last night thinking to myself that it's very touching movie that definitely did show the strong bonds between the human and the kind of aliens and it teaches us that despite the difference in the nature of the world, all it needed was a little caring, love, trust and empathy to love each other.

And oh, I just can't miss this part out. When we left the cinema, my boyfriend's made a comment that I thought wad hilarious. He said "whatever that girl's name is in Twilight, the avatar guy is juz like her, can't wait to be changed to be accepted in the other half's community.". Wahahaha. You'll know why he said that if you have watched the show. Go enjoy! I think it's worth a weekends priced ticket even.

A Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

Merry Xmas to you! It's been awhile since we last spoke. December has once again arrived and I can't stop myself writing this to you. I've been ( and hopefully you think too ) a good kid this year. So, I'm really and truely hoping you would fulfill the following wishes of mine.

1. For my mom - could you pls send her a pack of magical pills that could make her stay with us for as long as her body and soul allows.

2. for my brother - he could use a bottle of potion that would pull him out of guilts and erase away the unhappy thoughts. Pls throw in a lucky charm if you're feeling generous cuz he needs a load of those.

3. For the love of my life Santa - could I ask for unwavering love to live in our hearts for the rest of our lives and only allow joy and happiness to be our guest.

4. For those who I treature the most as my dear friends - could they stay close to my heart. Pls take care of them, send them your love and direct them to the magical way to achieve what they wish for in life.

5. For myself - I don't wish for fancy car, a house or cash. What I really want the most is the gift of wisdom.

- Wisdom of knowing what's right or wrong,

- wisdom of deciding the path to walk in life,

- wisdom of solving any problem that would come in this journey of life,

- wisdom of knowing giving is better than receiving,

- wisdom to know when to grow-up,

- wisdom to know it's not worth crying over spilled milk,

- most importantly, wisdom to control the strong emotional catastrophes.

I know it's a looong list. But pls don't discard this Santa cuz I love you and if u do, it'd hurt me.

Here's wishing you all Merry Xmas and Super Fabulous 2010!!

Xoxo,

Me