Halloween teaser trailer trick or treat

Did you read Angels and Demons? If not, did you read The Da Vinci Code? If not, did you watch The Da Vinci Code? If not, then nevermind. Here's the official teaser trailer of the upcoming prequel to The Da Vinci Code, adapted from the bestselling novel by Dan Brown, Angels and Demons. Starring the evergreen Tom Hanks, set for release May 15 2009. Enjoy.

Happy Hallow's Eve to all.

Angels, demons, ghosts and ghouls alike.

Brought to you by Doctor 'Illuminatus' Popcorn.

Half-Blood Prince Trailer

Set for release 17 July of next year. I can't wait. It looks so dark. Oooh.

Everton 1-1 Manchester United

This sucks. Already 6 points behind Chelsea and Liverpool, Man U fail to make up some ground after giving up a one-goal lead in the first half away to Everton.

The first half United were fine and cruising, dominating possession and goal-scoring chances. The second half wasn't as good. It all went to hell when Ferdinand made a couple of errors. Man U conceded a lousy goal from a cross. Apparently the scorer, Marouane Fellaini (pic) is damn good at headers. And he scored with one. I think its the hair. Hahaha. Check it out!!

So anyways, a poor second half performance from the Devils. Proved costly. Haih.

Hero of the game: Marouane Fellaini

Villain of the game: Rio Ferdinand. Grr.

Im soo not in the mood right now.

Once A Wildcat, Always A Wildcat

Last night i got the chance to watch the premiere of High School Musical 3: Senior Year with free tickets courtesy of smashpOp. Thank you very much. Now lets jump into things.

If you have not heard of High School Musical, I'd like to know where you've been the past two years. The HSM franchise started in 2006 as a made-for-TV film by Disney. Following huge success, a sequel was released in 2007, again on the Disney channel. For the third movie, Disney got smart and decided to make some money out of it. Senior Year, just released today, is the only HSM movie to be released in theatres. Some critics say that it will hit the $80million-$100million range in its opening weekend. And yes, I wholly, entirely, completely agree. Why? Because there are that many kids in America.

Obviously stated the title, the movie takes place during the Senior Year of the main characters. They all attend East High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico where they are all about to graduate and move on with their lives. The theme for the movie and the obvious pushing message that Disney is trying to get across is that life changes and you have to make tough decisions on where to go and what to do in life. No one can make those for you. Believe it or not, for a kid's movie, the movie has a pretty interesting theme. The two main characters are Troy Bolton (Efron) and Gabriella Montez (Hudgens). They have been dating for a while now (in the movie and in real life) but as graduation approaches they have to make a decision on what college to go. Troy's dad (also his basketball coach) is pushing him to play basketball at U of A and Gabriella is Stanford bound. It is coming to the end of year and prom, a final senior musical and graduation is being planned out. One of their classmates, Kelsi, suggests that they do a final senior play and the teacher suggests that it be centered on their senior year. An interesting aspect of the movie was how everything in the storyline, was intertwined with what was happening in the senior musical. The villain of the film, Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale) wants the play to be all about her and wants no one involved. Sharpay and her brother Ryan are very selfish people (Ryan not so much) that want to advanced their career in theatre. Once the group play is decided on, the students find out that Juilliard scouts will be watching and choosing one student to attend their school. The drama has begun and the let the singing and dancing begin.

It goes without saying that the targeted audience are the 'tweens', kids aged from 9 to maybe 16? I dunno. But you get my point. When I was watching, I had to hold back my scoffing, keeping in mind that this film was meant for 'zee little ones'. But if i were to be completelt and totally honest, I could sum up the film realistically in a few words. Like. PREDICTABLE. CHEESY. PHONY. TOO PERFECT. WEIRD. WAAAAY BEYOND CLICHED. But then again, HSM, made for kids.

Seriously, this is how the movie was like. The dialogue...yucky. Made me feel awkward. Especially everytime Gabriella called Troy 'Wildcat'. I wanted to puke.

Another thing...WILDcat. There is absolutely nothing WILD about East High or the students. In the movie i think Troy and Gabriella kissed only once. But many other times when they had scenes where their faces were close together, I could see it in Zac and Vanessa's eyes they were holding back their hornyness bcuz obviously, this being a  kiddy movie, it wasn't in the script for them to kiss. And we all know that these two are a horny bunch. You want proof? Do some pictures splashed all over the internet remind you of anything. But seriously. This is supposed to be HIGH SCHOOL in AMERICA. Everything just feels so perfect and innocent and its definitely not portraying what high school should be like. I know, i know. Movie for kids. But still, at least sustain some degree of realism...something Disney always finds hard to do. Haha.

But its not all doom and gloom from me. It actually lives up to its name, being a musical, it had some cool tunes. A few of my favorite parts of the film was the 'Broadway' part by Sharpay and Ryan ("I Want It All"), the part with Chad and Troy at the junkyard ("The Boys Are Back"), when Troy went bonkers in his school at night ("Scream") where there was this awesome scene where the hallway is rotating and he falls onto the wall then slides to the ceiling then slides to the wall again...you get it, and finally, the finale song where they graduate ("High School Musical").

I might've criticised this movie a whole lot while being really sarcastic and mean and sounding as if i was never a kid. But if you're 18 years old, you'll know what i mean. Having said that, I'm still gonna have to say that I liked the movie. Yes call me a hypocrite. But just watch the movie. You;ll have your adult mind telling you to walk out of the cinema hall and get away from all the kids but also, it'll bring out your kiddy mind thats telling you to stand up, dance along and belt out an HSM tune.

Although i doubt there will be an HSM 4, you never know. But if this is the and of Wildcats and singing and dancing and high school, then kudos to Disney and the director, Kenny Ortega for letting it go out with a bang. From the start go, it was obvious they stepped it up a gear and that so much more effort was put in to make it a fitting movie to be put up on the big screen. 

Since there are so many dimensions for this movie, i give it three ratings.

In general, 1.5 out of 5 popcorns

As a kiddy movie, 3.5 out of 5 popcorns

As part of the HSM series, 5 out if 5 popcorns. The best one yet.

How does the U.S. Presidential Election really work?

In precisely twelve days, many Americans will vote for one man and his running-mate to lead the country for the next 4 years. Some of you may know, but many probably don't, that the choice of the people of America will affect the rest of the world dramatically. Seeing all the talk of the the upcoming election in the papers and on TV, do you really know how the voting system really works? My dad enlightened me about it last night at the dinner table. So happens i stumbled over this video on YouTube. Its like the Maxis ads on TV. So simple yet informational and entertaining. Whetheryou care about this at all or not, you'll learn something you might not have known before. Enjoy!

November Movies

Well October's almost over. Which means its gonna be blockbuster season again. As the Christmas movie season is just around the corner, lets see what's in store for the U.S. market in November and which of those movies will make it to Malaysia before 2009.

Soul Men

Starring: Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson

USA Release: 7 Nov

M'sian release: N/A

Plot: A comedy in which two legendary soul singers who have not talked to each other for two decades reunite to sing in the honor of their recently deceased former bandmate. The irony is that after this movie was shot, both Bernie Mac as well as a supporting cast member, Isaac Hayes, both passed away. R.I.P. Bernie. And Isaac, whoever you are.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Starring: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith, David Schwimmer

USA release: 7 Nov

M'sian release: 13 Nov

Plot: This sequel sees Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo hatch an ingenius plan to leave Madagascar. After getting a plane to fly, it doesn't stay up for long, but long enough for the whole gang to crash land in the plains of Africa. Although the forst movie wasn't all that bad, i thought it didn't produce many laughs and i certainly think it didn't merit a sequel.

I like to move it move it. Hahaha.

Quantum of Solace (Oooh)

Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Judi Dench

USA release: 14 Nov

M'sian release: 6 Nov

Plot: With bitter vengeance being the theme of this 007 flick, James looks for the organization which betrayes Vesper Lynd, his love back in Casino Royale. On a mission that takes 007 to Italy, Austria and South America to track down a ruthless businessman from the organization Quantum, who is trying to take control over one of the world's most precious resources. Be prepared for a huge dose of bullet-dodging, car-chasing, jumping-off-building action in this. Definitely one movie to look out for this year-end.

Did you know, that in 22 Bond films (Quantum of Solace is the 22nd) this is the first one that Bond throughout the whole movie does not even once say the phrase "Bond. James Bond." Such a shame.

Bolt

Starring: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus

USA release: 21 Nov

M'sian release: 27 Nov

Plot: The latest Disney animated movie is about...a dog who believes he has superpowers. Thats because Bolt's lived his whole life on a hit action TV show. When he accidentally gets seperated from his owner and his normal Hollywood life, he gets shipped to New York City. He then tries to find his way back home with the help of an old cat and a fat hamster. Sounds cute. Should be a great movie for the kids and the family.

Twilight

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson

USA release: 21 Nov

M'sian release: 27 Nov

Plot: Personally i had no idea Twilight was a big deal as a book. But apparently, everybody is soooo excited about it. So, this highly anticipated movie adapted from the book of the same title is about some chick falling in love with some dude who runs super fast, can stop a car with his bare hands, hasn't aged for 90 years and is a vampire. Yeah, real typical romance story right? So these two, they fall in love...yada yada yada...and this is where it gets interesting. The closer the vampire boy gets to his one true love, the stronger he has to fight the urge to be drawn into an uncontrollable vampire frenzy. Ooooh. If this movie is as good as people say the book is, then we're all in for a real unorthodox action-romance ride.

"I'm so sorry. I vanted to give you a hicky but i gave you two puncture vounds instead." Hahaha.

Transporter 3

Starring: Jason Statham, Robert Knepper, Natalya Rudakova

USA release: 26 Nov

M'sian release: 4 Dec

Plot: Guess who's back for a third time?? Yes it is the crazy, gun slinging, kung fu fighting, maniacal, bald, Brit chauffeur cum assassin. Haha. This time, he's joined by an even more maniacal character played by Robert Knepper (T-Bag in Prison Break). In this one, its real simple. Frank Martin. Bomb strapped to wrist. Must deliver package for bad guy. If package not delivered, Frank Martin goes Ka-Boom. Get it? Yeah thats about it. The basic shooting, fist-fighting and car crashing. Should get your adrenaline pumping.

Manchester United 4-0 West Bromwich Albion

It seems ages ago when my first post was about Utd beating Blackburn in the last round of BPL matches. This is of course because it was two weeks ago. After a good week for me (I'm also an England fan), I was excited to see what Wayne Rooney could do for his club after scoring FOUR goals in two games for his country which took his scoring run up to six goals in four games for both club and country, prior to last night's game against West Brom.

Given that Utd started fantastically, creating lots of scoring opportunities and all, they were quite disappointing when it came to the scoreline. It sucked that Man U weren't able to break West Brom down in 45 minutes of play. However things got tasty in the second half. Rooney came flying out of the blocks in the second half. looking so dangerous. In th 56th minute, he scored after having a goal disallowed. The one thing i like more than his goal was his celebration. United then went on a rampage scoring two more goals in 15 mins. Rooney turned provider sliding a through ball for Ronaldo to slot home a beautiful goal. Berbatov got his first Premier League goal for Man U courtesy of a Nani free kick. Nani then closed out the game tucking the ball into the back of the net from a Rooney cross in tha last minute of the game.

Man of the match: Wayne Rooney of course

Impressive: Rafael da Silva impressed at right back doing some solid work in defence as well as making a difference in attack.

Disappointment: Although Berbatov and Ronaldo got on the scoresheet, they both underperformed in my eyes. Berbatov rarely getting the ball and Ronaldo smashing two or three free kick right

smack into the wall.

All in all a great team performance. Four goals, four different scorers.

*SPOILER* Prison Break Season 4

As the season takes a break until possibly October 27th for the World Series, it is said that THREE characters will die in the next two episodes.

Here are four things that should prepare you for whats to come.

1. One of the three deaths is of a character who's been around since the beginning. Ooo.

2. There be a drowning, a torture and a shooting.

3. One will be very heroic

4. Michael Scofield is...NOT going to die. Pheww...

So, who's it gonna be? I think one of them will be Sucre. He's been on the show since season one. Other possibilities include Bellick, Mahone and Linc. Yes, Lincoln Burrows.

We'll find out after the World Series.

Attention Marvel Fans!

Thought Iron Man was a fantastically, awesomely, astronomically, brilliantly, MARVELously great movie? If yes, then you can look forward to a comic book moviefest by Marvel in the next couple of years. There's been plenty of speculation since Iron Man but the line up of movies look tantalizing.

Well lets start with the rest of this year. The end of 2008 will only see one Marvel movie- Punisher: War Zone.

In 2009, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is scheduled for a May 1 release. This will be the first of a few more X-Men spin offs, the next one being X-Men Origins: Magneto then X-Men: First Class. X-Men Origins: Wolverine will see Hugh Jackman reprise his role as the iconic Wolverine. So will Ian McKellen as Magneto. Also scheduled for release is the sequel to the Nicholas Cage flick, Ghost Rider.

In 2010, the line up really kicks into gear with...yeah you guessed it, Iron Man 2 with a planned May 7 release. This will be the second movie to an Iron Man trilogy. And in this one, its said that Tony Stark will be troubled by alcoholism. Ooooh. Can't wait.

July 16 2010 is the proposed date for the release of Thor. Followed by The First Avenger: Captain America on May 6 2011 and then finally The Avengers on July 15th the same year.

Other movies that will possibly be released in the not so distant future are Ant-Man, Ghost Rider 2, Spider-Man 4 (May 2011) and 5 (possibly filmed back-to-back) with Tobey Maguire reportedly being offered $50 million to do both the films.

Other ones to look out for within the next 5 years is Iron Man 3, Nick Fury and a Spider-Man spin off, Venom.

A lot of rumors and speculation but tasty, mouth-watering rumors and speculation nonetheless. One thing's for sure though, expect no less than SEVEN Marvel comic-adapted films between now and 2011.

It is a great time for Marvel fans as well as general comic fans alike.

Check these out!

A few posts ago i told you about Neal E. Boyd winning America's Got Talent season 3.

Well, check out his audition performance. You should get goosebumps. I did. But he's so emo.

Enjoy!

Also, check out a clip from the Morgan Spurlock movie Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden? Its a video of Osama dancing to MC Hammer's U Can't Touch This.

Its hilarious!!!

I missed the debate

I missed the second US Presidential debate this morning at 9am because i had Chemistry class at 8. Haih. So disappointing. So at the dinner table i asked my dad how the debate went. He told me that Obama won by a landslide, according to CNN polls. Here are some of the poll results after the debate.

Who did better? 54% Obama 30% McCain

Who would be a better leader? 54% Obama 43% McCain

Who was more likable? 65% Obama 28% McCain

Who was more intelligent? 57% Obama 25% McCain

Who attacked his opponent more? 63% McCain 17% Obama

Well it looks like two for two for Obama so far. This time around winning in a more convincing fashion. Well those who are interested in catching the next debate, set your calendars for the 16th of this month. It'll be the last presidential debate before election day on November 4th.

Anybody watched the debate this morning? Let me know and tell me what you think about it.

Where In The World Is Osama bin Laden?

I just watched this interesting documentary. The name itself is already intriguing enough. Its pretty obvious what the topic of the documentary's about. Does the name Morgan Spurlock ring a bell? How about Super-Size Me? Well Morgan Spurlock who did that, wrote and directed this film as well.

Honestly i had higher expectations of this one since i loved Super-Size Me. But i was a little bit disappointed on the humor aspect of the documentary. Other than the start of the movie and a few witty lines scattered all over the movie, it was quite mundane.

As for the general content of the documentary, i must say it was most fascinating. The movie starts out with Morgan finding out he's having a child with his partner (dunno if she's his wife or gf), and he goes on saying what kinda world will he be bringing his child into? A world filled with muggers, predators, religious cults, mother nature's acts of fury, but most frightening of all, a world with the the world's most wanted man still on the loose. Osama bin Laden. So he goes out on a trip across the mid-east, to countries like Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Israel, Afghanistan and finally Pakistan, to meet with and talk to people on what they think about America, the war on terror, al-Qaeda, tha Taliban and asking them if they knew where is OBL. The parts i liked most about the movie were when Morgan got feedback and replies from people when asked if they knew where OBL is and that he was looking for him. Every single one of them, all Muslim, had negatives thought about the $25 million man (thats how much his bounty was when the film was shot). There was one interview with a Palestinian man and i liked what he said.

Morgan : Im lookin for Osama bin Laden.

Palestinian dude : They hate him.

Morgan : Palestinians do?

Palestinian dude : Palestinians yeah.

Morgan : Why do they hate him?

Palestinian dude : Because he likes blood. He's a ridiculous Muslim. He gives a bad picture about Islam.

Morgan even stopped by Tora Bora, the last place OBL was seen. There's a funny part where Morgan peeks into a cave and says Yoo Hoo! Osama? Haha.

Well in the end they didn't find Osama bin Laden but I have a feeling that not very long from now, his face will be splashed all over newspapers around the globe. You can run and hide Osama but you can't run and hide forever.

America's Got Talent *SPOILER*

I just finished watching the latest season of AGT and the Finale was full of talent.

This was the result of the Finale :

1st place - Neal E. Boyd

2nd place - Eli Mattson

3rd place - Nuttin' But Strings

4th place - Donald Braswell

5th place - Queen Emily

I've been following AGT ever since last year's season which was season 2. This season 3's talent has been pretty good but nothing compare's to Season 2 winner Terry Fator. That guy was just a super talent machine. You think a person with one talent is cool? Well Terry Fator has THREE talents. Not only is he a ventriliquist, but he also sings thru his ventriliquism. Not only does he sing thru his ventriliquism, but he imitates voices of famous singers. So when Terry Fator is performing, the dude has a puppet in one hand, and he sings into the mike but doesn't move his lips and he sounds like someone else ALL AT ONCE. Basically he's a one man show. Awesome! If ever you get the chance, see him in Vegas. That's one of the perks of winning AGT. Not only did he win a cool $1,000,000 (that's One Million US Dollars if the zeroes are confusing you), but he also got his very own show in Las Vegas and he signed huge, huge, huge contract to perform in Vegas. He signed up for five years and guess how much he's gonna be paid in five years?? Not one million. Not ten million. ONE HUNDRED MILLION US DOLLARS!!! THAT'S $100,000,000!!! Well lucky him. We should all learn to be a ventriliquist who sings and imitates people's voices.

As for Season 3, Neal E. Boyd is a really big fella who can belt out a note. Seriously he's an opera singer and a pretty good one at that. I liked him but my favorite was Eli Mattson. Too bad he didn't win. Third place was pretty good too. Two black brothers who play the violin to the background of hip-hop music. How cool is that?? Classical mashed with hip-hop. I think it was a mistake for America to choose Neal E. Boyd as the winner. Although he's a good opera singer, he was a crybaby, no disrespect to him. He was just over-emotional and i think he was taking advantage of that to win America's votes. Also I don't think an opera act can hold up in Vegas. Eli Mattson on the other hand, he can hold his own. The easiest way for me to put how his music is like...his voice-Elton John. his piano- Elton John. He reminds me so much if the great, gay Sir Elton but at the same time has an original, husky sound to his voice. Which is nice. But if you want to get goosebumps and get that tingling sensation like how you did when you listened to Il Divo sing or when you watched Transformers, then you got to, got to, got to listen to Neal E. Boyd sing. Especially the song that he sang three times in the whole contest, only the greatest, most popular opera song of all time, Nessun Dorma. All three of those performances were truly sensational. But on a darker note, i doubt he'll have much of a career in Vegas. But people, do look out for Eli Mattson. He definitely has a career ahead of him. Oh and ladies, did i mention he's pretty good looking? Haha.

Oh and i almost forgot. Leona Lewis performed at the finale and it made me think that among the current singers right now i think she has the nicest, most natural voice and she sounds awesome even when she's live.

What's on the tube this week?

Football Focus with John Dykes

On ESPN Astro channel 812

Tuesday 2000

Get your weekly dose of footie talk from around Europe in Football Focus with John Dykes and four other ESPNStar football pundits.

US Presidential Debate 2008

On CNN Astro Channel 511

Wednesday 0900

Not working or studying this

Wednesday morning? Check out the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees fight it out in front of a worldwide audience in their second debate. The last debate was a tight one but Barack Obama edged John McCain to win on the night.

The Amazing Race Asia Season 3

On AXN Astro channel 701

Thursday 2100

Catch the fifth instalment of the new season of the asian version of the ever so popular reality show The Amazing Race. Join host Allan Wu and teams from all over Asia as they race to the finish line for the prize of $100,000.

The Pursuit of Happyness

On HBO Astro channel 411

Friday 2100

Catch this wonderful movie based on the true life struggles of Chris Gardner, played by Will Smith, a homeless salesman that finally makes it big in the stockbroking industry. Smith is joined by his very own son, Jaden Smith who plays Chris Gardner's son in the movie. This movie is beautifully acted out, especially by Jaden Smith who was only 7 years old when the film was shot. This highly acclaimed movie is also highly recommended by me for the whole family.

World Cup 2010 Qualifiers

Club football is off this weekend as the qualifiers for the next World Cup in South Africa takes place all around the world. Catch all the action on Astro Supersport channel 811 on Saturday and the wee hours of Sunday morning. Check back here for all the updates I round up all the scores frome this round of matches.

Blackburn Rovers 0 - 2 Manchester United

Just finished watching Man United play.

Quick wrap-up. Brown scored in the first half with a controversial goal and contributed to the second goal scored by Rooney in the second half.

Game was pretty much dominated by the Devils. In the end it was pretty easy.

Play of the game : Rooney goal

Player of the game : Wayne Rooney

Disappointment : Cristiano Ronaldo failed time and time again to get his crosses in from the flanks and missed a coupla shooting opportunities.

In any case 3 points helps Man United to catch up on Arsenal who could only manage a draw with Sunderland.

Slowly but surely United are marching up the table.

Man U fans i know you will sleep well tonite.