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January 27, 2006

Underworld: Evolution


Kate Beckinsale .... Selene
Scott Speedman .... Michael Corvin

Tony Curran .... Marcus
Derek Jacobi .... Corvinus (as Sir Derek Jacobi)
Bill Nighy .... Viktor
Steven Mackintosh .... Tanis
Shane Brolly .... Kraven
Brian Steele .... William
Zita Görög .... Amelia
Scott McElroy .... Soren
John Mann .... Samuel
Michael Sheen .... Lucian
Sophia Myles .... Erika
Richard Cetrone .... Pierce (as Rich Cetrone)
Mike Mukatis .... Taylor

Did you see Underworld way back in 2003? If not, don't worry. Underworld: Evolution has enough back story dialogue and flashbacks so that you don't miss anything.

So don't let the fact that this is a sequel (in fact, it takes place pretty much the next day after the events in the first movie) stop you from going to see this movie.


This was a pretty kick ass movie. And by that I mean, it was a lot of action. Tons of fighting and action. Tons of body parts being ripped off and away and lots of blood. But it was all good and not boring (there's one scene that just blows everything out of the water!).

The special effects and stunts were great. It was very difficult to tell what was CGI versus real.

The acting was somewhat over the top in parts but you sort of expect that and it works coming from the characters because of what kind of creatures they are. Plus, the characters were pretty much the same. Selene was still an ass-kicking woman with a bit of a soft side. Michael was still a good guy who didn't lose his wits (a scene with sunlight shows that off perfectly). Viktor was still the Lycan bigot he was in the first movie (of course, he was shown in flashback and "prequel" mode so obviously he couldn't change).

The only reason I'm not giving this 5 halos is because it brought up 2 questions from me that never got answered (although, to be fair, I don't think one of the questions really matters to the filmmaker).
1) Where the heck was this supposed to take place? In the first movie, you think it's somewhere in the US because Michael is obviously an American (no accent) and he's a doctor-in-training. But then based on the police, you think maybe it's set somewhere in Canada. That would expain the non-English accents for some of the characters but would explain the European feel of the police and the accents of some of the other characters. But in this movie, there are at least 3 different languages going on and Selene and Michael haven't left the country.
2) Well, this one might be a spoiler so [spoiler start]How exactly is Corvinus an Immortal? He's not a Vamp or a Lycan, so what is he?[spoiler end]

To me, this was a better movie than the first one and I liked the first one.
Anyways, go see this movie in the theatre (because I think it's spectacular when seen on the big screen in all its glorious goriness).

Posted by xinh at 08:00 AM | Comments (3)

January 22, 2006

Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows

Almost a year ago, I watched the 2nd Bionicle movie and reviewed it. I had read that there were only going to be the 2 movies. Imagine my surprise when I get a recommendation on my Netflix account for a 3rd movie. As I liked the first 2, I put the 3rd movie in my queue and waited for it.

This movie is pretty much the same as the other two in terms of theme. Unity, duty, and destiny are what the Toa strive for. Plot wise, it has gotten more complex and the animation has definitely improved. However, this movie really doesn't stand alone. Maybe because it's a sequel to a prequel and so the writers/animators/directors were boxed in by what had already happened in the other films which detail the past and future.

Still, it's worth a rental if you've seen the other movies.

Posted by xinh at 07:13 AM | Comments (0)

Pussycat Dolls - PCD

Taken from About.com:


The Pussycat Dolls began as an all-female burlesque group created by choreographer Robin Antin (sister of hair guru Jonathan Antin) in 1993. Their first live performance took place at the Viper Room in Los Angeles in 1995. Carmen Electra was one of the lead dancers. The Pussycat Dolls' stage act has always followed the classic tradition of burlesque, a sexual performance that focuses on tease, humor and innuendo instead of raunchy sex and bare flesh.

In late 2003 Robin Antin decided to start from scratch and conducted open auditions to create a new troupe of Pussycat Dolls that would ultimately be part of a musical project. Nicole Kea (aka Scherzinger), formerly of the band Eden's Crush, winners of Popstars, an American Idol precursor, became the group's lead vocalist. Music business veteran Jimmy Iovine was brought in as an executive producer alongside Antin and A&M Records president Ron Fair.

In April 2005 the Pussycat Dolls took their next steps forward in the entertainment business. The Pussycat Dolls Lounge at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas was opened as a permanent venue for the Pussycat Dolls stage act.

I love danceable pop music. But when I first saw the video for Don't Cha? I was all set to not really like the PCD. I mean, it's a bunch of skinny girls dressed like 'ho's, singing about how some guy should wish his girlfriend was like them. However, the beat really got me and when I listened to the lyrics, I was pleasantly surprised.


Before I commit to buying a CD for a band or artist, I wait until 2 or more songs are released. I have way too many CDs in my collection in which I bought the CD based on one song and hate every other song on the CD (Blind Melon and Deep Blue Something, I'm looking right at you!). I wasn't too thrilled with Stickwitu, as it's a sappy ballad, but then I saw a video on Yahoo Videos for Beep and I knew I had to get the CD at some point. Which I did while I was at Target a few days ago.

Having already heard 3 songs from the CD, I was hoping the rest of the CD was as fun. I wasn't disappointed. This is a fun little pop/dance album. With the exception of 3 (maybe 4) songs (Stickwitu, Feelin' Good, How Many Lies/How Many Times, and possibly Tainted Love), all the songs have a good beat and you can dance to them. HML/HMT, Feelin' Good (a song from the 60s that's been remade by various artists - most recently by Michael Bublé) and Tainted Love (a remake of the Soft Cell song) have good beats but are much slower and therefore not really danceable. There's a kicky little number called Right Now that's an original song but very reminiscent of the 60s jazzy/London pop sound.

Lyrically, the songs are pretty basic and somewhat shallow. The majority of the themes in the songs are about guy/girl dynamics and relationships. But at least they don't sound like poems written by some angsty 10th grader in her private journal (**coughnewMadonnaCDcough**).

I generally judge a CD by how many songs I skip over to get to the songs I really like. With this CD, I only skip over one song (Stickwitu).

If you get a chance, you should give it a listen.

Posted by xinh at 06:46 AM | Comments (1)

Into The Blue DVD

Paul Walker .... Jared
Jessica Alba .... Sam
Scott Caan .... Bryce
Ashley Scott .... Amanda
Javon Frazer .... Danny

Josh Brolin .... Bates
James Frain .... Reyes
Tyson Beckford .... Primo
Dwayne Adway .... Roy

During an interview with her in the Behind the Scenes featurette on the DVD, Jessica Alba calls this a "Chick Flick." I do believe she's confused. Chick Flick implies that the female is the center of the story and the heroine. This movie is a Guy Flick: lots of action and lots of pretty girls in bikinis. Plot and characterization be damned.

The 4 main leads were all pretty to look at but Paul Walker's acting style is so leaden it almost hurts to watch. There's no real chemistry between any of the leads so it's hard to understand why they're friends (or lovers as the case may be) and you get almost no background on anyone so you have no idea why they act the way they do (especially the Amanda character).

I gave it 3 halos because some of the action scenes were original and took place underwater. I'm betting that a lot of the underwater scenes probably looked awesome on the big screen but there's no way I would've paid $8-$10 to see this movie in a theatre.

The DVD has 3 featurettes by way of Special Features. A Behind the Scenes look, Deleted Scenese (tons!), and Screen Tests.

Posted by xinh at 06:08 AM | Comments (0)

January 08, 2006

Purifiers, The



Kevin McKidd .... Moses
Gordon Alexander .... John
Rachel Grant .... Li
Dominic Monaghan .... Sol
Amber Sainsbury .... Frances
Robyn Kerr .... Sam
Jaime Cho .... Raz

Think The Warriors with martial arts and that's what you'll get with this film. In the indeterminite future, The City (it's not clear which city it is) is run at night by karate clubs who have divided it up into territories. While the other clubs have gotten into illegal stuff, John and his Purifiers roam their territories as good guy vigilantes. When the Big Boss, Moses, calls a meeting of all the clubs to discuss banding together and being one big "conglomerate," the Purifiers decide not to join. Thus begins the problems. Moses won't take no for an answer and he sends the other clubs after the Purifiers.

Be thankful that this is a short movie (coming in at 1 hr 15 min) because if was any longer it would be unbearable. As it is, it's slightly uncomfortable to watch. The acting is pretty much what you'd expect from a low budget, direct to video martial arts movie.

The director is in love with slow motion shots so there are A LOT of those throughout this movie. Shots of club members fighting in slow motion, shots of people walking in slow motion, shots of people running in slow motion. I'm convince that if more of the movie were in real time, it would be even shorter than 85 minutes.

The only things saving this from getting a lower rating are the pretty people and the fight scenes. Even when they've been fighting and getting beat up and all bloody, all the people in the clubs still manage to look pretty. I guess the future works that way. The fight scenes are all nicely choreographed and you don't even have to worry about slowing down a certain move to see how it's been done because the director did that for you already (LOVES the slo-mo!!).

Overall, I'd say don't bother with a rental unless you're really, really bored.

Posted by xinh at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)