Unstoppable: A Cool Choice

I'm not into action movies, I'm a drama-mama. I love watching dramas, not making dramas in my life though.  Didn't have much expectation for Unstoppable but this movie has Denzel Washington, based on true events and it's about a train. It could NOT be lame, could it? 

The story is straightforward. An unmanned train is going towards the city carrying hazardous-explosive-materials, and a slide derail could cause a catastrophe to the highly populated city in Pennslyvania. Two train workers, Denzel and Chris Pine are trying to stop the train. Somehow, as a moviegoer, you know that the city is going to be safe and these two are going to become heroes. It's all about the journey, and not the destination, and I'm telling you the journey is EX-CITE-TING!

I like the camera works, it makes you cringe in suspense! This is a race against time and as the 777 train picks up speed, your adrenaline rushes in!  But why do they need too many useless police cars around? Are they going to build a wall that could stop the train or what? Just stay in your stations and eat your donuts please, officers! And the presence of a helicopter on top of the train while Chris Pine is trying to tie the trains together is not helping also, is it? Helicopter blows strong wind, so .... please can you shoo! But overall, I think this is a cool movie to watch. 

Rating: 3.5 Radars

Easy A: Easy On the Eyes

I've always been a fan of movies that have narration, as I feel closer to the person telling the story. Easy A is that kind of movie and Emma Stone, is as cool as a cucumber in this one. She plays Olive Penderghast, a good high school girl gone bad in this movie directed by John Hughes, popular for his Home Alone trilogy. She narrates heavily throughout this movie about how her reputation was ruined for the lies that she told, started with the one she told her best friend. Everybody's convinced that she's a tramp and she has to set the record straight to win the heart of a boy she likes. I bet a lot of people could relate with this movie for high school experience and issues are almost similar worldwide. In Malaysia for example, we are made to wear uniform to school but nobody have any control over students' big mouth. And I believe now is even worse than when i was in school dinosaur years ago with the availability of social networks to spread the news faster. 

I really like Olive's parents in this movie, I think on some level parents need to chill a bit. Kids make mistakes. They do. We all did. Understanding and leniency are necessary to gain trust and respect from our children. When we build that connection with our children, they will return to us for solace and comfort. The overly-religious group of students will always be in high-school no matter where you are and Amanda Bynes as Marianne is irritatingly good! You can't be in heaven if you keep on judging people, you know. Haha! 

Emma Stone shines in this movie, not in Natalie Portman's Black Swan way but in her own cool way. For an easy watch, I highly recommend Easy A. 

Rating: 4 Radars

Aftershock, The Great Chinese Movie & Jay Chou Better Stay in Chinese Movie

My husband told me that he's going to watch a movie about earthquake. I suppose he'd told me earlier about this movie but my mind works in a mysterious way. I was picturing a documovie about an earthquake in China so I was feeling so-so about it. 10 mins into the movie I was hooked. 30 minutes into the movie, I had a box of tissue on my lap and as the movie went on, I was a mess! A mother was made to choose between saving her son or her daughter and losing the other. And she chose the son, believing that the daughter was dead. The Great Tangshan Earthquake of 1976 took the lives of nearly a quarter of a million Chinese and this movie's premise is the life after that quake. The injured girl woke up to find her father dead besides her and that her mother and brother had abandoned her. She's adopted by an army couple who didn't know anything about her past. 32 years after, another earthquake brought this family together in the most heart-wrenching scene ever. A daughter believed her mother had chosen his brother over her, and a mother who believed that her beloved daughter had died for 32 years. And the movie also depicted the unconditional love of an adopted family to the victim of the earthquake. 

Rating: 4 Radars

On another tone, I was really disappointed to spend time and money on The Green Hornet in Gold Class with my husband. I never thought the movie could be this bad. This is a movie about a son (Seth Rogen) of a newspaper mogul who wanted to be a badass but at the same time wanted to be a good guy (confuse confuse). First, what had the father done to him to make him hate the father so much until he decapitated the father's statue in the cemetery? Just because your father threw the head of your action figure into the dustbin, it doesn't mean that he's a jerk. Maybe you are a jerk! Then entered Kato (Jay Chou)... the father's mechanic. Apparently, he was also forced to make good coffee for the son -- that's why he hated his master so much? What a wuss!!  Then these two whiners plan to get some justice (for what?) and the series of stupidity continued.The movie plots were so weak I didn't know where to begin. A superhero who's not good at anything. A villain who's not good enough to be a badass. A sidekick who couldn't mutter anything correctly. Seriously folks, Jay Chou can't act in English!!!! Even one simple line he couldn't deliver properly. I could give him a break for his mother tongue is clearly NOT English but the acting....? who's going to defend you for THAT? Better stick to what you know best, watching movies and singing Chinese songs. You are not ready to take on Hollywood no matter how cool you think you are!

And please please please do not make The Green Hornet sequel..... I beg of you. 

Rating: 2 Radars