Toy Story 3: Movie Review

Toy Story 3, follows up as decade long awaited sequel to the franchise so fondly known and treasured in the hearts of the inner child within us. Toy Story 3, truly succeeds in delivering the essence of what Toy Story had always been about, the inner child within us, the emotive attachments with the characters we've grown so fond of through the years, and with a twist this time around, how things never stay the same with the passing of time.

Toy Story 3 takes viewers to a darker place of finality which we always knew would happen. Children grow up, and outgrow the very toys they grew up with. The simple fact on how things could and would not last forever. Despite its somewhat underlying darker theme, Toy Story 3 is truly a heart warming, tear jerking emotive film suitable for viewers of all ages, and reconnects every adult with that little child in us, and brings back every small childhood memory we've ever had with any toy in our lives.

A DEFINITE must watch, irregardless of the kind of films you love. And by far from the rest of this summer's films thus far, this one scores a 5/5 stars with me.

Disney/Pixar never fails to deliver with their films. Oh, and likewise with Disney/Pixar films, this too comes along with a short film entitled '' Day & Night" Truly touching too, especially when it came to that old vintage radio voiceovers.

Don't miss this film for the world. And best caught in 3D.

Chris Evans will star as CAPTAIN AMERICA!

Yes, Chris Evans has been confirmed to star as Captain America. Many thanks to the REBEL for this piece of news! While i may not be an avid follow of Captain America, with what little knowledge i have from my childhood days of browsing through its comics, i agree with the Rebel that i do find Chris Evans rather unsuiting for this particular role.

Still can't quite get into my head Chris Evans as the All American Hero...
You may read the article here. Kudos to The REBEL again for this piece of news.

Predators (Sneak Peek Trailer)

Skipping the sequel to the original predator, Robert Rodriguez takes the helm as the director in this film, Predators. I am highly anticipating this movie as it'd be definately mind blowing to watch a film that stays true to its roots, or so Robert claims, as opposed to the severe dilution and over the top gore/blood fest that the predator and alien franchise has now become after Aliens Versus Predator.

Not that AVP isn't awesome. it's been falling steadily through the A grade to a B grade film with each sequel.

So for a reboot of a franchise of which fans have mostly since lost faith in its credibility to deliver, hey, i'm game to watch this film!

The full trailer releases on the 18th march.

Movie Review: Green Zone

Caught Paul Greengrass' Green Zone on Thursday, and it's pretty much deserved the hype it got and has has delivered a pretty well structured storyline and flows smoothly with its bag of explosions, firefights and such.

Whilst most would be expecting some super spy, one man against the world action flick, Green Zone in stark contrast, focuses on Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon) in his unit assigned to seek out and recover the WMDs in Iraq which were the crux of which the war was ignited over.

However with time after time of intelligence on locations of the WMDs proven to be a wild goose chase, Miller begins to suspect that the inaccuracies and anonymity of the intelligence given to be suspicious and unravels a dark truth over which the war begun over.

The chase camera sequences and close quarters combat filmography was pretty gritty and realistic, and was pretty much the tense edgy moment we all paid our good money for and though this film paved a stable and well told path to the climax, the ending of the story, being an action film, left much to be desired(ending wise).

No you don't get your cheesy happy endings, nor is the ending a tragically sad tear jerker...the end of the film however delivers a morally ambigious and powerful political undertone. with damon/Miller's translator ending the climatic scene with the phrase
"who are you to decide what is best for our people?"

whilst it is food for thought, and a really good scene, i was strongly under the impression the climax was going to end with a big bang...not quite a downer, and not quite a score, though i'd hand it to the directors though.



In all, Green Zone is a film not to miss if you enjoy war films, bourne, or simply films which are good food for thought, though i'm a little bummed over the fact that i was a little misled with the theme of the film, thinking it to be that of suspense action and explosion, and turning out to be a food-for-thought/this-is-the-truth political message. (not that it lacks any of the later though.)


I would've given Green Zone a clean cut 4 stars, but for its rather abrupt gear shift in its climax to a political message, i'd nick 1/2 a star and give it a 3 1/2.
and it beats the bullcr*p that is Alice in Wonderland by far. If there's a film to watch in cinemas now? its Green Zone.

Hot Toys Iron Man 2: War Machine Teaser schedule for unveiling tomorrow.

I guess the title says it all. Official announcement was posted over at Hot Toys' facebook page.

Iron Man 2: Trailer 2 ( Mark V revealed!)

I guess the speculation is now over and the time for gaping like a fanatic schoolgirl has come. Mark V has been unveiled in the Trailer #2 of Iron Man 2 to be the unfoldable armor that's packed neatly away in a suitcase format.

Be sure to check out the trailer below to get yourself hyped over what's comin' up this May. Kudos to Mirrorboy for the heads up

My inner geek is just doing backflips and cartwheels after seeing this.

Toy Story Official Trailer

Cue in the familiar soundtrack ''You've Got a Friend in Me'' by Randy Newman, and it sure can strike a chord and bring back fond memories from so long ago.



Everybody's favourite Spaceman and Cowboy are back! Apart from Jim Varney, the original voice of Slinky, who passed away from lung cancer, the rest of the original cast will be reprising their roles. This could possibly be the biggest movie for 2010!

With the anticipation of this long awaited sequel, a decade since the last, I can hardly wait for the toy line for this movie to hit stores!!! The sheer magnitude of reliving childhood days of 95' when the first movie came around would be something to behold.

The A - Team Movie (Official Picture)

Bradley Cooper screams out every inch of the word '' Heat, Kane & Lynch'' in his dressing, but what balances it off is seeing Liam dressed in this rugged manner


You might remember Bradley Cooper in his fantastic performance from the Hangover. And with Liam Neeson to boot, i doubt he needs an introduction. Hell, i think we just got ourselves a film not to miss!

Guns, Mercenaries/ soldier of fortune , Joe Carnahan( director of smokin' aces, pride and glory ), produced by Ridley and Tony Scott, Film's vein will be like that of Die Hard, Bourne Identity and Casino Royal. Hell, this film sure hits all the right buttons!

Hope this film adaptation of the classic TV series does deliver!

Oh did i mention Jessica Biel is in the film too?

Iron Man 2 Movie: Mark IV, Mark V, Mark VI incoming!

as written in this article, we can expect to see Mark IV, Mark V, Mark VI as well as bruce banner, Black Widow, Whiplash, and War Machine upcoming from hot toys in 2010!

and not just that, with ample research online, i found pictures of what Mark V would look like.
This picture below is Mark V made by hasbro.
Triangular Chestpiece eh? Well i can't wait for 2010. Boy, the best parts of collecting always is the hype and speculation and geek discussions. Kudos to Mirrorboy for discussing and kickstarting this hype for next year!

GI JOE movie review

Caught G.I. Joe the movie on saturday,

I must confess that this film was for me a breath of fresh air compared against the blockbusters of this year. A brief recap on that would be,

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Watchmen: A simple proof of how being completely faithful to its roots didn't quite pay off for the response it got, though i must say i loved that film. It faces the strong dilema of being incomprehensible for people new to the story, and falling short of expectations for the hardcore fans. ( hey, where's the f*ckin' GIANT SQUID we paid to see, zack? )

Terminator Salvation, possibly the biggest crush of expectations for a film which shoulders the reputation and distinction of its predecessors. IMHO the biggest flop for a blockbuster this year. Poor scripting, piss poor graphics. And yes Bale's one dimensional ''intense'' portrait all the way. Rule of thumb? ( don't take a Charlie's Angels' Director )

Transformers: Pure Robot Porn. Whilst the storyline was somewhat non-existent, or nonsensical, ( reviving Jet Fire with the broken shard when Sam COULD'VE used it on Optimus hence spanning the film for an extra hour, and that's just one out of many loopholes ) the visual aesthetics and visual graphics of the film pretty much quenched the inner child. Trnasformers seriously made the impossible possible. Bringing Robots we'd always wanted to see come alive, to life.

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however back to the point, we've not had a balance of great visual aesthetics and a decent storyline with good enough laughs to qualify for a decent blockbuster yet till now...

While i honestly did find some of the graphics to be pretty distinguisable, considering the quality of graphics and level of advancement in technology we've seen so far in the field of graphics, G.I. Joe's director really should try harder...though i will not critize this film based on its graphics for it sure does make up for itself.

Whilst the graphics may not be top notch, the storyline was interesting and coherent even for newcomers to the G.I. Joe franchise, and the director's adaptation of a Hasbro toy line, spanning from toys to comics, all in itself deserved some form of merit.

Casting was pretty suiting, i must say that Lee Byung-Hun as Storm Shadow was good, furthermore his portrayal as the Arch rival and sword brother to Snake Eyes was good, though i would've loved to see more of their brother/rival/ evolution to nemesis backstory...
on another note, storm shadow's murder of his master due to jealous was a pretty cheap shot considering Storm Shadow in the comics was falsely accused of doing so, with the assasin mistaking the master for Snake Eyes, resulting in Storm Shadow's masters' death, causing the rift and animosity towards his sword brother.

I felt too that the change of the Cobra troopers from the Klu Klax Klan hoods to metal skull masks were a nice touch to the modernization of most comic fanfare. However if i could nitpick, i wished that they hadn't changed Cobra Commander's Mask, it being rather iconic to me. Destro was pretty spot on too, and the explanation for the forming of Cobra Troopers and their unwaivering loyalty was pretty well done.

Besides that, one could never talk about G.I Joe without mentioning the Baroness, yes, yes, she sure does give the boys a run for their money. But most importantly, evil never looked so good before.

What intrigued me more than the Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow chemistry was Snake Eyes' suit. It sure does pack up a hell lot of bulk, reminiscent to that of Batman from Batman Begins. And it took me a while to realize that Snake Eyes was wearing a suit, in a sense they didn't quite say if he was wearing a suit, and i was mistaken for a while thinking that the whole rubber outfit he was in was supposedly his muscled body coated in black paint or something, and the fact that he wore a hoodie or some other form of coat over it in scenes at the base whilst his teammates were out of their gear, had me thinking it was his body instead of a suit.

Then again, it would be nice if they dropped the bulk off snake eyes and gave him a lean muscled frame something like that of ryan reynolds...

I particularly loved the introduction to the film where i was pretty much wowed by the sets, the guns, the trucks, and the grand entrance of the JOEs

All in all the film was pretty well balanced out, and for a Toy line thought up by Hasbro to be brought into silver screens with a decent storyline, action and backstory sure is on helluva achievement, and Stephen Sommers sure did deserve every bit of credit for that. Yeah the graphics weren't top notch, yep we had some cheesy lines, ''YO JOE'' every now and then from General Hawk, but hey, what's the film without its cheesy fanboy kid appealing cheer? Though what tickles me to be ridiculous is the whole scottish language to activate the weapons of the Night Raven.

The story does flow well and the humour and mild violence does make it a kid friendly and family approved action blockbuster, whilst some would rate this film down harshly or draw comparisons from The Dark Knight, a "standard bar" for comic book adaptations, videogames, or toys, i say enjoy this film for what it truly is, a well adapted film suitable for fanboy and family alike.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Movie Review & Exclusive Figure

Caught Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen today. And i must say, this movie is a must for those who love the franchise/toy and or cartoon, and also those who're just hanging around for the movie kicks.

i feel strongly that this show was based on a fast paced, dynamic action movie, with extremely breathtaking aesthetic graphics, namely the robots be it autobots or decepticons. Though i must add that whilst this year boosts a hell lot of heavyweight titles in terms of franchises and movies, as yet they've all been pretty much action movie no brainers. Apart from Watchmen perhaps?

there a a few plotholes or rather small questions left unanswered likewise with the first film but i doubt one would pick on such nitty gritty details when the film just blows you away in terms of visual appeal. From frame to frame, be prepared to be wowed at the COOL FACTOR of the robots. Transforming, to fighting to dying to disguising. Loved the cinematic dramatising of Optimus' defeat and (PLOT SPOILER, HIGHLIGHT TO VIEW) -DEATH. but he gets resurrected- Spoilers end here.

There is a general plot ongoing though, this film drives hard on its action and i'd give it a 5/5 star rating with consideration that one watches it solely to be entertained, action, big explosions, visual appeal and plain geek fandom! It's a one of the better films by far to hit the box office so far, with Terminator Salvation being a huge downer.

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That aside, i've got a nice figure for you to peek.

just get the popcorn and drink combo and you'd get to choose one of three 3' inch figures, of Optimus Prime, Megatron or Bumblebee. Looks pretty sweet IMHO. though the combo special comes at a stiffling price of $9.90... and i got it mainly for this figure...

whisking this figure off to my shelve display!

that aside the plastic cup for the drink is reusable, and has a very nice design of transformer's Optimus on it. Will feature it here when i've scrubbed it clean.

Terminator Salvation: Movie Review Coming Soon

Caught Terminator Salvation yesterday, and will post a review of it by 2am tomorrow, because i'd be geekin' out at forum gallery's transformers launch.

must add that i was a tad dissapointed in the film. strong introduction, weak and flimsy end. been having high hopes of it being the geekdom film of the year.

now i guess Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will be the fanboy film of the year...

Terminator Salvation: New Teaser " Who Are You"

Many thanks to BillyGoat , a fellow toy collector and pop culture enthusiast like myself who owns far more 12' inch figures than i do!! Been great knowing you bro! and thanks for the heads up for this incredible new terminator teaser trailer ''Who Are You''.




pretty awesome how you see it links back to the original trilogy. father and son. boy i can't wait for this movie.

Iron Man II teaser perhaps?

i'm still wondering if this is from Iron Man I or II....any clues?

picture credits go to toysRevil.net

X-men Origins: Wolverine Movie Review

It seems after such a long time after watching this movie that i'm getting off my ass to write this review for it. To be pretty honest, i watched it the first day it hit cinemas, on the 29th April and to be exact to the nitty ditty details, the first show of the day at 10.30am. And in short a simple reason why i took so long to review this film was because it wasn't really up to my standards and worth my time to review it.

Yes, i said it, you may begin cursing this site, begin a witch-hunt to find me, disembowl my entrails... etc...etc....but hey, my decision still stands.

now, onto the detailed review.

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Despite its ensemble cast and change in director, i must confess that this movie still sports, and carries much of its unfavourable flaws similiar to its predeccessor. The X-men trilogy. In reference to its trilogy counterpart, i would say that the revamp in costumes were fantastic, and the revamp to it to suit the relevance of today is acceptable to fans around the world. An example would be how Iron Man is made into movies and changed slightly to fit into the modern world today *scenario* ...eg viet war where he got the shrapnel accident to middle east conflict etc etc...you know what i mean.

The concept of adaptation of comic books to reflects today's ever changing society is perfectly fine with us fans, though KILLING PROFESSOR X, murdering CYCLOPS is somewhat totally something we fans could never possibily expect or see coming our way when we bought those movie tickets.

and with X-men wolverine Origins, do expect the same *WTF %!&*#$* expressions and jaw dropping exasperation to come from you at the end of the day.

butchering deadpool and turning him to a mouthless, armbladed, laser eye blasting, teleporting mutant sure as hell doesn't cut it with us. and yes, that is the major spoiler for most of you out there. If you are not yet familiar with Deadpool, he is possibly one of the most likeable X-men characters, to me. Being the Mercenary with a mouth, smart assed, self-aware. He is in fact one helluava of a comic character. And with how the scriptwriters and Fox totally reshaping and changing him to weapon XI and embodying powers of all the other mutants that have been captured and or had their dna extracted, eg: cyclops, wolverine, wraith etc..

Fight scene right before good ol' Deadpool gets decapitated.

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Weapon XI is also called by Col. William Stryker as "Deadpool", due to having powers "pooled" from many other mutants killed and/or kidnapped in the film, including Wolverine's healing factor, Cyclops' optic blasts, Deadpool's martial arts ability and Wraith's teleportation ability. He also has retractable blades from his arm capable of killing Wolverine. He's the final antagonist of the film, having been genetically altered to be the ultimate mutant killer. It is mentioned that Weapon XI is the possible product of experiments on Wade Wilson aka Deadpool

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I believe i've ranted enough about FOX and origin's scriptwriter's most crucial flaw which they continue to repeat in their movies, killing beloved characters with no rhyme or reason, and changing them so much we just gape in sheer terror. (and dissapointment after we recover from the tragic butchery)

Now in terms of plot, this story hinges on the brink of oblivion.

Yes they do explain how wolverine got his claws, and nails the century long debate of whether Wolverine originally had bone claws before adamantium implants or not. The introduction of the film with James Howlett/Logan/Wolverine ripping up his claws and supposedly killing his father answers it all.

And apart from the abrupt introduction, the cutscenes where they flash through logan's life in a timeline of wars he's faced since WWI -WWII and then the vietnam war, were very well done. However i must say that this and the scene where team X storms the building in search for adamantium are the only interesting and memorable parts of the film.

That aside, the graphics for most part of the film are pretty obvious and somewhat to the point of over the top ( agent zero's gun slinging moments @ the fortress) and makes it rather phony.

i must say the moment which shone best for me was WADE wilson/ deadpool as he wisecracks off his ass at stryker before taking on an entire room filled with soldiers with just his weapon of choice, the two katanas that make him iconic through all comic books. - " okay, i'm done....people are dead...'' - deadpool

indeed ryan reynold's smart assed wisecracking nature was the best choice as deadpool, however it still saddens many that despite all that, poor direction and vision from a director and scriptwriter killed his character and what that could've been a potentially good movie.

don't blame Ryan if you don't like deadpool, he's the perfect deadpool/wade wilson. his character sucks because it's all FOX's fault.

To commend, one cannot deny that Liev Scriebber shone through this disaster franchise with a complex relationship shared between him and Wolverine. And Liev indeed shone with his chops as an actor and is the ideal victor creed even if he ain't that hairy.


Talk about poor casting....Gambit sure flopped flat with a poor casting choice and wound up more like a pansy more than a roguish and formidable adversary whom you never want to cross. It only was the graphics of the card throwing that help boost his screen presence. otherwise, i can't be bothered about him.



That all aside, whilst we were expecting a story of loss and hatred, and the thirst for revenge ( over silverfox's death ) which drove wolverine to get those fancy claws, (as seen / pushed by the trailers)...this sure as hell isn't the case towards the end, as they reveal everything as a major plot twist which doesn't quite shake or part the ground beneath you , but rather gives you a bitter aftertaste in the mouth making you feel way cheated.

Silverfox not dying, wolverine not particularly shaken up after what should've been a very traumatizing sugical procedure. Talk about action action action and no storyline. This film has so much potential to delve into the animalistic nature of wolverine, the hurt the anger the rage the revenge the betrayal and the trauma thereafter....with so much emotions to work with and platforms to begin from...its a wonder how FOX managed to screw up so badly by missing all these.


All in all, X-MEN origins : Wolverine is a Roar without substance, with certain scenes visually entertaining and some totally over the top unbelievably phony. The storyline lacks in so many places, with moments which could be used to delve into a complex storyline, substituded and ditched for plain mindless over-the-top action...boy FOX, you sure did screw up big this time.

and with the ''origins'' which they push as a name with so much bravado ....seems like an irony to the film which murdered the comics of x-men. ( deadpool is a good example ) by totally changing the origins of characters and throwing it all away for action.

well need i say more? I'm running low on vocabulary to describe this desecration of a fan favourite franchise. out of the stormtrooper effect's rating system.

i rank this film 2 out of 5 stars.

- Largely dissapointing for its continued failure to maintain a storyline. (like its predeccesors
- for butchering deadpool
- too over the top to the point it seems phony graphics
- producers, directors and scriptwriters had so much emotions and directions and faucets of wolverine that they could've potentially explored, which they strangely didn't and shortchanged viewers.

watch it because there's no other action blockbuster yet, or as an appetizer before terminator salvation, or just because you've got too much time or money in your hands.

G.I. Joe New Trailer

Holy smokes Sienna Miller! and those accelerator suits are awesome! dodging missles?!?!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Trailer 3

this trailer just lures me in totally, and its one of the reasons why i'd say we're in for one helluava year this 2009.

Hot Toys: X-men Wolverine Origins Announced

It is no longer a joke. The April fool's joke which set forums rife with calls for Hot Toys to actually make the joke come true, has indeed finally come true.

Hot Toys are finally making 12' inch X-men Wolverine Origins. You can read it all for yourself in Hot Toy's April Newsletter.

Now, who wants good ol' James Howlett/Logan/Wolverine??? i'd love to see a nice X3 version with the leather suit and all. And most of all, in fact above all, a comic suit version of deadpool. though the word out in forum is that Deadpool wound up becoming some bald scarred jawless, laser beaming bladed elbowed beast. ( and its pretty true so far going by screenshots seen on forums)

that aside, its a huge stretch for collector's wallets this year, ironman, DX the dark knight line, predator, resident evil 5, terminator salvation, and now, xmen? and possibly watchmen coming too...good lord. is anyone aware we do have a recession? ( take it easy hot toys, one by one )

gotta make my dollar count now...

Watchmen: Review

With The Straits Times critically panning the film at just 2/5 stars, and a huge rift amongst viewers alike in terms of opinion. Either you love it, or you hate it.



I present to you without further ado, the first blockbuster review of 2009, Watchmen!

To note, i was not a hardcore comicbook follower of Watchmen, but to gain some background knowledge of what i was about to expect, i did read up the comics on the weeks before the movie, hyping up and to grasp the main essense of the story so as to give a fair review of the movie.

I believe there will be two stands in this review for most people, the movie purists and the comic book purists. You either love it, or hate it. I won't go into the details of the movie because much of the storyboards from the comics are pretty much translated visually into the movie. And the introduction of the movie ( which was pretty long ) kinda summed up much of the prelude, though i must add that nifty as it was for long term fanboys or those familiar with the comic books, it was just visual candy till it was explained slowly to the audience later.

Much of the movies' narration is done by Jackie Earle Haley, who plays Rorschach, in a form of a diary. Whilst his narration and portrayal of Rorschach is good, the narration off the diary to explain the story can somewhat feel odd at times, like random thoughts of a violent vigilante, twisted in his logic by his moral absolutism. While some may find his actions to be the justifiable and ''right'' thing to do, his character actually is the platform for sympathy, despite being the one who stands for right and charging on obivious to certain doom.. '' no even in the face of armageddon. Never Compromise'' He is also by far the only character who gets more character exploration and understanding.

And while this movie may be visually appealing, and despite sticking faithfully to its comic book version, much of the story and backgrounds for other characters were not explored and represented fully, nightowl II, ozymandius etc. whilst the film is peppered with little snippets to explain sufficently to easy movie goes, it fails to deliver for the die hard comic book purists. Hence the ton of dissapointed reviews. Though much of it is made up by its raw graphic violence and action.

Movie purists who want true-to-original movies would love this film, considering it does tell the story faithfully, while comic book purist who expect much more from backstory would be greatly dissapointed.

My rating of it is 4.5/5 stars as i felt it was one of the only few comic book movies that stuck true with its original materials despite lacking aforementioned background stories and proper narration. Sure beats majority of other movies that have been readapted and changed. I believe the major flaw of the movie isn't in the movie, but in the fact that they tried so hard to replicate and stay faithful to the movie in representation, so much so that when certain parts which did not make it on-screen, are heavily and critically panned by fans who expected it deliver much more. But i must say that being a 2 hour film, to explain a 12 series graphic novel, this film sure did its best in bringing out watchmen.

First Blockbuster of 2009: Watchmen

At last! Watchmen has hit Singapore's silver screens! Despite its pretty gut low ratings 2/5 stars given by the straits times...i'd risk this once and check it out today at 11.40am.

A review will be up soon after!