Sweeney Todd Movie

Based on a fictional character of Sweeney Todd & the musical of the same name, this movie is set in old, gloomy & dark London. This musical film is about Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) who was unjustly sent to prison by Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) in order for him to get his wife.

Benjamin returns to London years later to revenge, changing his name to Sweeney Todd and teaming up with the pie shop lady, Mrs Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter). Together in his quest of revenge, he kills men who come to shave at his upstairs barber's shop, and she using the corpse's as meat in her meat pie.

In between, his new friend wants to save his daughter, who is prisoned by the Judge.

The first 20 minutes of the show is a real bore, which is a little slow and too much singing. However, if you can withstand the first 20 minutes of the show, then you'll enjoy this musical, especially the singing & the music score.

Seeing how they team up is rather amusing, though it can make some 'sick'. Killing here is made like another routine, blood is seen everywhere, and eating human pie is like normal.

Johnny acts well here - deep, angry and revengeful, while Helena sings & acts incredibly too, playing a less serious, but cunning person as well. Of course, Alan who has his usual stern serious look and voice brings out the Judge just as good.

A good watch.

Mad Money

A stellar cast of Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah & Katie Holmes sure sets this movie in the right mood.

Diane plays Bridget, the wife of her out-of-job corporate husband, who found themselves staring blank with bills to settle. Not wanting to give up, she applied and got a job as a janitor - yes, the once rich housewife working as a janitor in the Federal Reserve Bank at Kansas City.

Because of the need of more cash, she tempted to steal, where she formed an 'alliance' with Nina (Queen Latifah)and Jackie (Katie Holmes). Their easy money & not getting caught got them to want for more, especially the greedy Bridget.

However, their soon accumulated wealth got the officials wondering where the monies were coming from, which got them into a frenzy.

This movie is acted very well by Diane who after all these years still have the star power. She played her role superbly - both as the rich wife, and the unglamorous janitor. And of course, not to mention, the ever magnetic Queen Latifah, who played her mama role. The beautiful Tom Cruise's wife, Katie adds to this powerful line up, acting as a blur young & naive girl.

A light hearted movie for everyone :)

Golden Compass

My initial response to the movie was - "Another fantasy movie, again?". Ever since LOTR & Harry Potter burst into cinema screens, it seems all the production houses are now wanting a pie of the fantasy epics.

This movie which is based on a fantasy book as well sees young girl, Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards), an orphan who is given a fantasy ride & runaway with Mrs Coulter (Nicole Kidman), while her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), is embarking on a trip to the Arctic Circle to investigate a mysterious element intriguingly called Dust.

The movie focus on Lyra's world of wanting to save her friends & fellow children who are missing, and apparently being used as experiment objects. Lyra's confidence, good negotiation skills & intelligence sees her banding together with the Gyptians, the mysterious witch Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green) and Texas airman Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott).

This young kid is flung into an adventure that took her to the wilds of the icy north, where she allied a polar bear named Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen), who pledges to serve her in her campaign until she prevails.

True to the fantasy movies, this movie shows talking animals and flying ships. But the best part of the movie is not from these fantasies, but more so the the lessons from it - like how a young girl gets people to be her allies by doing smart intelligent & courages moves. The part whereby each character has an animal as their daemon, or more like an inner voice & soul, also shows how we constantly have other thoughts running in our heads for every move we make.

Though the movie has an original plot, some new different ideas from other fantasy based movies - like the daemons, & good lessons, however, the overdose of these fantasy epics has raised the bar much more, and somehow the Golden Compass fall short of it compared to its peers. Unlike the other trilogies like LOTR or Matrix, which each episode can end on its own, the Golden Compass part 1 seems to leave a bad 'hanging' ending, despite good acting from its casts, especially Nicole Kidmans with her evil looks and her evil blue eyes.

Still, Golden Compass is a decent movie, and will be a good watch for fantasy epic fans.

Azur & Asmar

This fairytale cartoon is about 2 children, Azur & Asmar, who grew up together and taken care by Asmar's mother. She was working as a maid for Azur's rich dad.

Azur's dad seperated the 2 kids while young and also sacked the maid.

Years later when Azur grew up, he went on the quest to seek the Djinn fairy, whose story is not sure a fairytale or truth. Being white, he ended up landing on the Arab nation, whose blue eyes were a curse. Hence, he pretended to be blind.

In all surprises, he finally met Asmar's mum, who now is a rich merchant. And she shows both him & Asmar the ropes to meet the fairy.

This fairytale story is set with beautiful intricate & lavish Arabic settings, especially in the homes of the now merchant and the Djinn's fairy's palace.

This movie also drops little snippets of philosophies & beliefs, like that 'tone is more important in getting message accross, rather than language itself'. It comes as no surprise because the movie was dubbed in both French & Arabic, and do not have full translations of each sentence.

In addition, it also shows how some people can perceive things negatively, while other see it in a positive light. This was shown when Azur pretended to be blind, his new found friend, only told him the bad things, even if they seemed ok. But when he finally opened his eyes, he got a shocked to know the contrary.

Interestingly set, this movie is beautiful with its colours & drawings, and is a rather decent show :)

I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry

Chuck & Larry are two firemen who are best of pals. One day, Larry (Kevin James) helped saved Chuck's (Adam Sandler) life while in work. In return of his gratefulness, Chuck mentioned that he will repay Larry in whatever he wants.

So, when Larry had problems of tax issues, he decided the only way was to have Chuck be his domestic partner. And he of course turned to Chuck for 'help', not knowing what they would fall into.

Both straight men had to pretend to be domestic partners and even getting married legally in Canada, just for Larry's sake. They even had to lived in together with Larry's 2 kids. Chuck was pissed further as he was then falling for their lawyer, Alex McDonough (Jessica Biel), but had to hide it as the government is cracking on scams of gay marriages.

My initial idea was this was going to be a gay-bashing movie. But it ended empathising on them with subtle lines, giving viewers a better understanding of them and love in general. There is also a showcase of strong friendship bonds as shown among the firemen, when they backed both Chuck & Larry in their 'marriage'.

The usual American or Hollywood jokes are found here, together with the typical Adam Sandler's hilarious actions.

Watch this if you are a fan of humour, or a fan of Sandler.