Movies: Exodus: Of Gods and Kings

Movies: Exodus: Of Gods and Kings

If your first thought to this movie title is... the Bible! then you probably have a chance at enjoying this movie! This is of course, a movie that follows the story of one of the more well read books in the world, whether for research, academic, rebuttal or religious purpose! If you want to just read the whole story, its free on the internet and all you have to do is do a brief search! Don't worry, just read the exodus portion of the entire book and you will get a gist of the story.

If you find this idea familiar, your not the only one. This movie was done before in albeit a different style and angle. The previous movie following a similar premise was called the "Prince of Egypt"

In fact, click on play and enjoy the music as you continue reading. It's pretty nice.

Ahhh... how time flies and these two divas are already pretty old. (They don't look the least bit older)

Nonetheless, lets talk about this new movie.

Storyline 3/5

There is probably a 80% chance that you, who is planning or has seen the show, already know roughly what the show is about. The movie manages to follow generally the story and in fact, it does make some creative direction to sort of make things more believable or well explained.

Don't think i can really be a spoiler to this movie but the part about the plagues on Egypt was interestingly done. I would say interestingly because the way they explained and put the plagues in sequence is not what one would originally imagine, and yet why not?

The front part of the story however is done more movie style with a bit of action and it was done pretty nicely to add some background to the movie. Overall however, this is the main focus of the movie and that is why it did suffer at some points as elaborated below.

The movie does assume that the audience has quite a bit of prior knowledge about certain sections of the source material and as such makes some leaps and misses out some introductions to allow the audience to know exactly what is happening at this point of time. Hence you may actually get lost at some points of the movie especially if you are not that well versed in the verses (woohoo a pun)

Do note, that from my viewing of the movie, there is quite a few starking differences between the movie and what you are used to.

Character 3/5

This movie focuses on only 2 people mostly, and the rest of them, and i do mean the rest of them are EXTREMELY similar to each other. You cannot really discern who everyone else is. Many of them have very very minor screen times but of course this is true to the source material.

Unfortunately this adds back to the confusion factor as you do not know who the people are and what is their role in those sections of the movie.

Of course there is a particular portrayal of a certain character important in the movie also and some people may like the way its done, some people not so. I leave you to see the movie and decide on your own of the direction they took.

Cinematography 3.5/5

This part was just sad in the movie. From the start of the movie, you would have been awed by the cinematography when they did their first battle. The way they did the action was like a LOTR or good epic castle fight. Sadly. This will not be repeated any other time in the movie.

There are still other pretty good scenes but all in all, this movie did not want to go towards the action style but rather more of the storyline route so you will not be impressed or awed too much until one last section in the end.

Probably another case of a pretty misleading trailer.

Music 4/5

The music was done very well in this movie. I would go so far as to say that every section was accompanied with music and its very prominent. It did add a lot to the feel of the movie.

Spectacle 3/5

Unfortunately for this movie, it chose to focus on the storyline aspect, but could not do it well enough. The source material might have been a factor, but still a good director would have been able to make it easy enough to follow. For the action scenes, scenes that had it was good, but there was just too few for such a long movie and it is a real real long movie.

There are tons of areas that the movie could have done better but I guess they might have got the priorities somewhat all around the place and lost focus as the movie went on.

Storyline: 3 (You need to know the storyline before hand, or you might get lost)
Character: 3 (Main focus was only on 2 guys, but everyone else was really hardly elaborated on. Too touch and go for me)
Cinematography: 3.5 (There were good scenes, and they had the ability to do good scenes, but they just didn't have enough opportunities for that)
Music: 4 (Good music, added a lot of excitement to the atmosphere)
Spectacle: 3 (I would say that they made a grave mistake and didn't do well on the main focus which is the storyline. Their secondary areas which was the action scenes were done ok, but they were not impressive so it ended up feeling lackluster)

Overall: 3.3 (I would say, to enjoy this movie, you first need to know a bit of the source material or else chance of you getting lost is really quite high. Next, you need to be able to appreciate some creative direction and twists to the movie. Next, you need to have an open mind to accept certain portrayals of certain characters in the movie. Next, you should be a person that likes storyline and not the kind that needs a high amount of your movie to be action based. All in all, it's an ok movie especially for the length of time, but you do need to have some preparation to be able to enjoy this movie fully.)

Movies: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Movies: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

It's been a while since the last installment of the Hunger Games, and for those who do not know what this movie is... you probably don't see movies much... I remember this movie as the first movie to show its advertisements almost a year before it really came out (or was it six months) which I thought was a bit extravagant. Nonetheless, its one of those movies that follows a book similar to LOTR and Harry Potter and is currently doing a Harry Potter thing which is instead of being a normal Trilogy, they take the last book/episode and split it into two.

What this means is that you will not get  closure at the end of this movie. It's more like seeing a serial or a normal TV show where it will end abruptly. What this also means is that you probably need to manage your expectation when you see the movie. I will tell you more as we move along

For those who do not know, this movie is set in an alternative universe where by all the people in the world are divided into districts. In their districts they are in charge of various tasks and products that they will supply to the capital where all the rich and famous and strange people live. So you have districts that focus on woodworks, some that focus on mining, some on farming etc. So every year or some time that I don't remember, there is hunger game whereby some people from the districts are selected to fight to the death and the last remaining person gets much riches and food and all that. So obviously after many years of doing this, you soon get some sort of rebellion started which is the focus of the next set of movies starting with Mockingjay Part I. So this is the starting phase of the rebellion itself. To not give any further spoilers, the introduction ends at this point. Here's some pictures

The movie that started it all

The continuation, look at her bow!

This movie's poster!!
Look her bow is gone.. wonder why

So if you did not watch the first two however, I would recommend that you actually see the first two because it does add some value to the movie especially since it introduces everything that happens and the new world that this movie is based in. In fact, I will go as far as to say, if you didn't see the first two of this movie, you will not enjoy it. You will understand as we go along.

Storyline 4/5

The storyline is the main aspect of this point of the movie. In fact I would say that the storyline makes or breaks the entire enjoyment of the movie because this show lacks action. Yep. Unlike the other 2 movies that came before this, this movie action portion is maybe only about 15% of the entire show.

You pretty much should treat this movie as a build up to the next movie episode where all the action is. The thrilling and exciting sequence is still here in this movie, but there is not much action. See the movie and you will know what I mean.

That is why you have to see the first two, then you will appreciate the build up. Or else you will have zero clue why the main characters in the movie are running all around the place and doing this and that and if you were to see the movie without any background it would probably only be worth 3/5 points. 

Characters 3/5

A lot of the development of the movie has been done in the previous movies before this. As such there is not much character development here in this movie. The difficulty this movie faces is that in a world like theirs, the people start to lose their character and basically become like everyone else. And this shows in the movie where everyone else feels relatively similar. You also might not know who many of the people in the movie are if you did not see the previous and hence you will have no clue why they are doing certain actions in the movie.

They do make some fair effort to distinct some people from another by giving them stranger hairdos and characteristics but there won't be nothing spectacular that makes you like any particular person. As in any rebellion there are a few speeches, but I guess it was the aim of the movie to show that because the characters in this movie are not born politicians, the speeches are not as inspiring as it should be.

Cinematography 3.5/5

This movie has some pretty good shots overall but unlike the first two, due to the lack of action scenes there is not much superb action shots. Has some nice outward top down views to show u more about the world and it does have the occasional epic things happening.

There is only portion in this movie however, that shows you that you can make a movie very thrilling, without having action. They do this towards the end of the movie so watch out for it the way they build up the audience and not have to worry about blowing extra money on budget. Hopefully, this translates to a more epic part II.

Music 4/5

The musical score does a very good job in this movie. In fact, music is used up to build a certain portion of the movie which is pretty creative although sometimes it feels slightly awkward to have someone singing as a part of the movie. Nonetheless it did a good job adding entertainment value to the show itself

Spectacle 4/5

Overall, especially for people who read the book and saw the first two, this movie does the story telling portion very creatively and well. But being the only focus of this movie, it takes a toll on the action scenes which is pretty minor for this movie. Thrilling factor however picks up very well towards the end of the movie and you will probably enjoy that portion of the movie well enough to say that the movie was in the end pretty entertaining. Its not the best and they could have done many things differently to cater to the more main stream action lovers, but for storyline lovers, this movie does well enough.

Overall

Storyline 4 (Main focus of the movie, does it pretty well, moves the story along to build up for the next movie)

Character 3 (Did not spend too much effort on this because this was done in the previous movie, if you didn't see the previous, you might get lost)

Cinematography 3.5 (Good effort and has some enjoyable shots but wasn't the focus of this movie)

Music 4 (Creatively incorporated in the music into the show and added much entertainment value)

Spectacle 4 (Did well on both the thriller and storyline fronts but sacrificed a bit of action for the movie, probably was not the focus either)

Overall 3.7 (My advice to you is, see the first two before you see this or it will not be enjoyable to you, and also if you think you are going to see the continuation of this movie in the future you can go ahead and watch it. The storyline and entertainment value of the movie is definitely there if you are a fan but just not derived from the usual pure action sequences. Not having too many epic scenes however means that you could actually just wait for Part II to come out and then see the movies together for you to have a complete picture instead of being cliff hangered but its up to you. Nonetheless, its a worthwhile way to spend a movie session especially since its quite a long movie)

Here is something fun for you to do! As you can see from the poster, this girl likes bows and arrows a lot. Count the number of arrows she fired in this movie!!!

Food: Carnivore Appetite

Food: Carnivore Appetite

Carnivore!! As the name implies, this is the place to go to to eat meat. We humans are supposedly omnivores except those people who are vegetarian, but once in a while we just have that craving to eat meat. All types of meat! So this could be the place to whet your appetite, or could it? read on to find out more!

First thing to note is that Carnivore Appetite is one of the few branches of Carnivore, BUT appetite is slightly different from the Carnivores in Marina Bay Sands and CHIJMES. The main difference is that this one is a buffet style where you are gonna have to go to the food and get it yourself. Unlike the other Carnivores whereby the cooks will actually bring out the meat on a skewer and cut it in front of your face. (NOT CUT YOUR FACE). The more important difference is the price! There is about a 10 dollars difference if you eat here compared to MBS and CHIJMES.

Aside from that, from the last time i ate at one of the other carnivores, I guess the only difference is also that the one at Appetite does not serve lamb. So take note that this review is only for the one at Carnivore Appetite, but you might roughly apply it to those at MBS and CHIJMES at your own risk!

This is the main draw of the place, meats around a heater

And here is the guy slicing the meat

Food 4/5

Here is what the food looks like on the plate

As you can see, it's still the same meat, the beef hump but this time there is the escolar fish!

So gonna chip in here and clarify, basically there are about 5 different types of meat, 2 beefs which is the beef hump and rump, one escolar fish, one chicken choice and also one pork choice! 

Escolar tasted really pretty creamy and smooth and if you do some read up it is said that this Escolar fish is particularly oil rich or something so not everyone can eat it. But if you can, the texture is pretty nice and tasty.

As you also can see from the picture above, the Beef we ordered was only of the Beef hump variety. The rump was somewhat hard in texture but maybe rump is always like that. The beef hump however, tasted fantastic and we had like maybe 5 or 6 servings of it. There was also a choice of about 6 different kind of sauce available and they tasted pretty fine but we roughly stuck to only 3 of the 6 sauces.

The rest of the meat was a good change of variety. 

The other buffet spread

There was also a line of maybe about 10 - 15 other dishes and also a salad bar sort of thing. The dishes ranged from other meats like sausages and there was soup, stew and risotto kind of stuff. Basically all these added much to the variety and overall gave a good spread of variety of the food present.

The drinks that were pseudo "1 for 1"

Had a bit of problems with the drinks at this place in that it was so called "1 for 1" when in reality, you could buy drinks at a slightly discounted price. Nonetheless even with the discount, the drink was gonna be about 6 dollars for 2 drinks which is pretty ordinary after all.

HOWEVER, do note that coffee and tea is served complimentary which means that you don't really need to buy a drink in the first place. There are also some people who would rather chill and drink there so it could also be an option.

ICE CREAM!! UNLIMITED ICE CREAM

 Finally, to sweeten the deal, at the end of everything, there is the ice cream!! Didn't notice any other desserts however, so I guess you could say the dessert options is lacking slightly. There was cakes though.

All in all, especially for a first visit to the place, the taste and choices of food is pretty good and you should be able to enjoy the taste of the food there.

To make things clear though, I did revisit the place in about 2 months later and the choice of food was almost 90% identical. So probably good to keep your revisits spread out.

Atmosphere 4/5

I went here twice so far and realized one thing, thanks to the place being relatively empty, it was a pretty calm and relaxing environment. The plates were all filled and there was a lot of spaces to choose from, the buffet area was restricted to one place so you would have minimal people walking past your table to get to theirs. 

The staff was quite eager to please and they collected your dirty plates relatively quickly. This is probably a good point of not having an occupied restaurant but it was indeed the current state of the place when I was there even during dinner times. 

Price 3/5

Its definitely not a cheap place with the price as follows directly from the website

Operating Hours & Prices:

Weekday Lunch: 12pm – 3pm
$19.90++ adult / $12.90++ child
Weekend Lunch: 12pm – 3pm
24.90++ adult / 12.90++ child

Mon to Thu Dinner: 6pm – 10pm (last order is at 9.30pm)
$29.90++ adult / $15.90++ child
Fri, Sat, Sun, Eve PH & PH Dinner: 6pm – 10pm (last order is at 9.30pm)
$34.90++ adult / $15.90++ child

For two people eating a dinner, it would probably cost you about upwards of 70 dollars. Judging from the amount I actually ate on that day which was about 5 pieces of meat which is smaller then your usual steak, and adding all the ice cream and stuff, you probably would find it hard to match the price you paid. 

Meaning unless you are super super starved, you probably cannot eat the equivalent amount of food for the price i.e. 40 dollars worth of food. The meat though nice, is also not fully premium type of meat as it is served buffet style and not cooked directly on the spot for a single share.

I personally think that they could lower down the price by about 5 dollars and the increased influx of people would be able to make up the lowered price, but that's just me.

Accessibility 4/5

This is really a easy place to go to via MRT and because it is situated inside a not as popular shopping center, you should be able to get parking easily if you drive.

There was also zero queue when you get there and you can have free reign and sit pretty much anywhere you want. Getting food is also speedy due to low customer traffic which is good for the consumer, but bad for business.

Overall

Food: 4 (Taste is there and variety is pretty good especially for the first visit)

Atmosphere: 4 (The seats were well spread out and the waiters were pretty fun and attentive)

Price: 3 (Pricey, especially the price of the drinks)

Accessibility: 4 (It's easy to get to and easy to get in. As a customer, hope it never gets too crowded)

Overall: 3.75 (This is a place that there is no harm going to once or twice, and the food is pretty unique and tasty overall with a variety that will not let you down. Of course it is slightly premium at the price so you probably can save it for special occassions. Of course try to find the meat that you like when you are there after trying everything and don't hesitate to keep ordering the one you like, if there is one choice that you like, it should be worth the trip already.)

If you want to find out more details here is the website 

Movies: Dracula Untold

Movies: Dracula Untold

Dracula! A story that has been told many ways, and sometimes it is confusing whether he is really real or not. He has been remade in games and is probably one of the clearer examples and origins of the common vampires that spawned shows like twilight. Nonetheless, with a name like Dracula Untold, is it really different and worth watching?!?!

For those who don't know, this is one iteration of dracula

Here is cartoon dracula

Well, fortunately for us today, our dracula is movie version dracula

but just for good measure here is another dracula

Here is game version dracula

Handsome little fella huh! but next question to ask is, is this Dracula story really an untold story? Lets read on and find out, especially since the answer is covered in the next section!


Storyline 4/5

I can't spoil the story for you because this movie story is quite a bit of fun. Nonetheless, lets say that this dracula tells a different story from what we usually believe and understand, just like how maleficent made us sympathize with the witch! Yep it is that kind of retelling of the story. But of course being made not by Disney, this movie will contain just a bit less lovey dovey or cutsie stuff.

The other point about this movie is that it focus on how Dracula came to become the person he is known by us to be and the "struggles" he met along the way. So it is more character development focused and the various twists and turns along the way makes it interesting to the end of this 93 mins flick.

Last point to praise is that this movie actually had many stops where they could very well have ended the movie there and then, however, this movie will then go on just that step further before reaching another possible ending spot and going on that step further again. As a result, this movie feels longer then it actually is because you get the feeling that "oh there is something more".


Character 3/5

Unfortunately for this movie though, the character development was not too well done and too greatly carried out. The first part of the movie (20 mins) was particularly for character building but it felt a bit draggy. Once it got to the action scenes however, it would be a bit more interesting but then in action scenes there is little character development.

Most of the development is on Dracula which is done above average well with only slight unbelievable or incoherent sections. However this meant that everyone else was greatly neglected and in essence its true. Almost everyone else in this movie would be someone unimportant and minor and you will not really feel for any of them.


Cinematography 4/5

Cinematography for this movie was done well. There are a few of exciting and impactful action sequences with good use of high shots and perspective shots to bring across the action flavor. It is almost towards 300 standards in terms of action sequences BUT it is highly lacking in the amount of action sequences. Most sequences could have really gone on much longer to show more of the power of Dracula and make it even more action packed.

Nonetheless given the short time frame, I would say the scenes and shots are done above average standards and will give you fair bit of entertainment and wow factors. That till you realised that they could have done so much more.

Just note that because Dracula only fights at night, some fight scenes might be too fast and too dark... not too many of them thankfully


Music 4/5

Music in this movie was there and it did have quite a positive impact in the overall feel of the movie. You can definitely feel that the music was helping this movie.


Spectacle 4/5

Storyline was good and flowing and it was kept exciting with enough twists and turns. Although there were slow sections especially in the beginning of the movie and some illogical portions of the movie and other aspects were not fully and properly explained. But nonetheless the gist and main purpose of the story line would keep you intrigued.

Action wise was also well done with good shots and sufficient scenes. So doing both well puts this movie above average on the spectacle department.


Overall

Storyline 4 (Sufficient twists and turns to keep the movie exciting)
Character 3 (Main character is focus of character development but not done completely well, all other characters feel slightly neglected)
Cinematography 4 (Good shots for actions overall, just a bit too few shots)
Music 4 (Present and adds a bit of immersion to movie)
Spectacle 4 (Action and story line segments are done well above average but still not excellent yet, still to do these two sections well it is pretty good entertainment value overall) 

Overall 3.8 (Overall 3.8 is a pretty fair score. Its a see able show, somewhat short but has sufficient entertainment value to be worth the time and money. Anyway it is only 93 mins long so it's not that big a investment. Action lovers and storyline lovers will be fine with the plot and the bit of action it brings. It should be fresh for most people giving the unique angle by which they are recreating the story.)

Movies: The Purge Anarchy

Movies: The Purge Anarchy

Hi all! its been awhile but I was just settling into my new job and there wasn't really any nice movie to review about. The drought has ended however with the latest movie being the 2nd in the series! Yep. For those who don't know, the Purge Anarchy is actually a follow up to a previous movie called The purge. For those who don't know, here are the posters!

This is the previous one, simply called the purge
The next in the list is the one we are reviewing today which is

So i will excuse you if you cannot see the link! Its a drastic change in the poster design, from a real literal poster form to one with the traditional actors bad/good guys standing there in the front.

Which is apt because unlike the first movie, which actually focused on the event itself and how a single family kept themselves protected, now this movie focuses on something else. Is this new focus better for the movie? Well read on to find out!

Storyline 4.5/5

This movie is all about this! And honestly, i would say that it is done in a very good way. Basically there are two stories that are going on, one is about the main character in this movie, while the other is about the purge in general. The movie goes about this in a very good and clear way and it is never messy and keeps moving forward.

The movie has sufficient twists where it introduces more about this new world that they are in and keeps the entire show exciting all the way till the end.

It also does a fine job of keeping everything underwraps till its time to reveal it and honestly all the happenings in the movie are pretty believable in what you would expect the world to be logically should such a occurrence really come into play.

Character 4/5

There is some particular focus on character and their background and explaining why they do the things the way they do... in fact this movie also explains quite a bit on the background of certain groups of people and what they decide to carry out during the purge itself. This adds a lot of good entertainment content to the audience as they are able to identify which kind of persons they will be like should the purge really happen and its really engaging in that sense

All the possible types of characters that were introduced is also highly probable to exist in the real world should something like this happens and this adds to the immersion value.

Of course many groups were just introduced for a very short bit of time and they could very well have some little teaser or entertainment value but i guess that would be a time constraint for the movie. Nonetheless it also leaves the possibility of expanding further into a 3rd movie.

Cinematography 4/5

There are really some good shots taken in this movie. High up shots to highlight how empty the streets are and even some close up perspective shots that are expected of an action movie. Only this movie actually did incorporate these shots into the movie that really added a lot to the immersion and entertainment value.

Music 3.5/5

I might have gotten lost in the storyline of the movie that I did not really notice whether the music was there. But I guess it should have been or else I would have noticed the lack. Sound effects were really strong in this movie though and it lend quite a bit to the impact.

Spectacle 4.5/5

This movie did really well in the spectacle department. It introduced a new world properly and combined the storyline focus with good action and it was above all, very believable. This movie has good source content to work with and the movie did a good job of telling the audience everything in the time constraint given.

It did a good job of being a thriller also keeping the audience intrigued and glued to the seat. This is probably a good example of a way a movie should be made.

Overall

Story 4.5 (Very intriguing story even for those who saw the first one due to the different story telling angle. It's a interesting new world to introduce)
Character 4 (Good background for those who were very important, a few groups could have used a bit more elaboration)
Cinematography 4 (For a movie that didn't actually have action as its utmost focus, it did well in putting in quite a few exciting bits.)
Music 3.5 (Had good effects, didn't really notice the music)
Spectacle 4.5 (Very good way to do two genres namely the action as well as storyline genre. Kept the movie exciting all the way)

Overall 4.1 (It's a good movie, and will appeal well to the general audience. Only one it won't appeal to is those who are super easily frightened. None the less you should be able to appreciate everything this movie has done and even at the end, it keeps you thinking.. what if one day this is our reality?)

I would honestly recommend this for those who want something to do. You probably cannot really go wrong with a movie like this.

Movies: The Maze Runner

Movies: The Maze Runner

It's sometimes quite interesting how they transfer some games that we played such as games like battleship and convert them to the big screen. Mazes are nothing new to us, we probably played this when we were young and had a pencil. So did the producer manage to make full use of this ever so familiar maze concept that we have in our minds and boost it into the big screen? Read on to find out!

Storyline 3.5/5

These movies with a fixed focus such as the maze in this case, will also have the free reign of how to go about fleshing out the background as well as the reason for having this maze.

The movie starts with the introduction to this new world but doesn't give any reason for its existence and what is really happening. It intentionally keep things vague and the first chunk of the movie just explains what is life inside the maze like. Then it moves into the maze itself and what happens inside before finally using the end part to explain the origin and future of the maze.

To prevent spoilers which is important because this movie is all about storyline, I have to be vague in my description and yet still be able to convey to you whether this movie has a good storyline.

All in all, in my opinion, this movie has a solid story in the beginning as it moves from situation to situation but towards the end, everything comes crashing down especially at the explanation of the maze itself as it hardly makes sense. Maybe book readers will find it easier to understand but for me at the end, the reason for this maze existence is strange.

Yet this movie still gets a 3.5/5 because of the fact that they have many different focuses through out the movie and there are various twists here and there that keeps the story engaging although not always logical.

It's a show with a lot of links that you might need to draw yourself however, and as such you may need to think a bit more then your traditional movie. As such also, the pace might be slower then the usual action flicks out there because remember, this is not an action film.

Characters 3.5/5

This movie mostly focuses on the main character as he tries to understand his past and what the maze is for and how to get out of it. This would mean that one character is also the maze itself and hence there is less time used for all the other people in the movie.

Nonetheless, important characters are somewhat fleshed out and if you see the movie itself, these characters are like the girl and the mazerunner guy which could have had more background or support for why they act the way they are. There's only like 2 characters with a bit more back story but at least all the rest of the characters in the movie are distinct in some small way which is good.

All in all, there are some characters that you will end up somewhat sympathizing which works well for this movie but they could have made it even more heart wrenching.

Cinematography 3/5

Its not an action movie but there are some good epic shots here and there. One issue however is that some scenes are particularly dark and also too close up that you don't really know what is happening which is detrimental to the enjoyment of the movie.

In terms of the thriller effect, its quite well done and will keep you strapped to the seat if the scene wasn't too dark in some occasion.

Music 3/5

Didn't really notice this particularly in this movie and have no recollection of whether it was used to build up suspense or anything like that.


Spectacle 3.5/5

In the aspect of storyline and introduction of a new world situation to the audience, as well as the usage of the maze which is the critical part of the movie, this movie did MOSTLY the right thing all the way until they tried to explain the presence of the maze. Fortunately this part is far into the movie which meant that it would be bugging your mind throughout the movie so it works in the movie's favor. Had enough twists also and is generally believable.

Did a good job of being a thriller with a lot of exciting and suspenseful scenes overall to keep the audience glued to the seat although there are sections which are somewhat slower and slightly too draggy..


Overall

Storyline: 3.5 (Was fine, believable and coherent with sufficient twists till the end when suddenly they tried to explain the maze in a very strange way)
Character: 3.5 (Focus was on the Maze as a character as well as the main character, side characters were somewhat fleshed out and you might empathize slightly but there is many room for improvement)
Cinematography: 3 (Thrilling scenes were generally well taken until the dark night scenes where you might actually lose track of what was happening which is sad and a waste)
Music: 3 (Didn't really notice this at any point of the movie but was not a detriment to enjoyment)
Spectacle: 3.5 (Movie focus was probably storyline but it somewhat crashed at the end. Still a above average thriller)

Overall: 3.3 (I guess it would be a fair score for this movie. Action lovers might not fully enjoy this movie unless you also like thrillers. Try not to expect too much with regards to a proper explanation of why was all these happening. You will never really know why even all the way to the end. Instead just try to keep your focus on the escape of the main character and how it is done. Try not to be too critical and you probably can enjoy this movie. It's pretty long too which is good in terms of money efficiency. You won't dislike this movie but it might just fall slightly short of being a fully satisfying experience.)

Movies: Lucy

Movies: Lucy

Here's a movie that is hit or miss, but before that, its time to commemorate 10,000 views on my page which i believe many of whom are repeat viewers for newest updates on movies or other reviews. Thanks for all your support and I don't plan to stop reviewing on stuff anytime soon and you can always feel free to give me some inspiration on what can be reviewed. That being said, I actually do have a bit of backlog on things to review so there actually is content as long as there is time to type it all out.

But back to Lucy! For those who do not know, this movie is about a woman who is finally able to unlock all the way to 100% of her brain and it follows her story as her brain usage increases from the original 15-20% all the way to 100%. As more of her capabilities are unlocked, she starts doing stranger things. Is this movie worth the hype? It was pretty heavily advertised and casual movie goers should know about it. But how did it perform according to our criteria?

Storyline 3/5

I would pretty much say that the storyline makes or breaks this entire show. This is the main focus of the show and it has a proper solid direction which is from 20% up to 100%. However, its so far into sci-fiction that it starts too lose a bit of coherence and does not really make sense. The whole concept of the movie is not really that logical and so it is somewhat hard to appreciate.

What I am basically saying is do not expect this movie to make sense, and maybe you can enjoy the ride. There is a storyline, there is a flow but it will not make sense and you will have no clue how come the movie started up like this, and ended up like that. That's probably all I can say without spoiling the movie because if I reveal the end of the movie its not worth seeing anymore.

I would say that only a rare minority will actually like what happens in the end of the movie while the rest will feel that their movie experience is unfulfilled.

Character 2.5/5

Sad to say, throughout the entire movie, none of the characters are actually appeal to me and neither am I concerned with any of them at all. The movie also doesn't care about much character development either with the main villain suddenly becoming very adept at using guns? It leaves too many things unexplained

All characters seem to be just put in there with no major important part in the movie except Lucy. Nothing impressive and nothing memorable.

Cinematography 3.5/5

Probably the one any only good point of this movie was that it told the story in a unique manner and there are some good shots to help the telling of the story. But its not really an action flick so its nothing superb either.

Shootouts were unimpressive and only thing that was action like was a single car chase scene

Music 3/5

Music was there, it added somewhat to the experience but it didn't save the movie from keeping the audience immersed in it.

Spectacle 3/5

It didn't stand out amongst the sci-fi genre cause personally I feel that sci-fiction still needs to be grounded in some logicality while this movie just throws away everything and explains too little. Action wise it was pretty one sided most of the movies with the only appreciable action scene being the car chase. That scene was done somewhat to quite a high standard with cars flying all over but that was pretty much it.

Overall

Storyline: 3 (Was there to keep the story going but no major amazing twists and left much explained and some stuffs just didn't make sense even with stretching of the imagination)

Character: 2.5 (Felt almost no connection to any of the characters in the movie, guess cause its main focus was on Lucy who was also pretty ordinary and unimpressive)

Cinematography: 3.5 (Had some good shots and a single good car chase scene but that was it)

Music: 3 (Was there, but was not able to salvage anything)

Spectacle: 3 (Is passable for both genres being action and sci-fi but nothing extraordinary)

Overall: 3 (It's probably gonna be a hit or miss for you but I would say that only a minority of the population will actually enjoy this flick as there are too many shortcomings such as a not so coherent and plausible storyline even taking into account that it is a fiction movie, as well as lack of good action scenes. Maybe you could try going in with a open mind, and not having too much expectation except to see one nearly-plausible explanation of what happens if us humans use 100% of our brain)

Thanks again for your support on my reviews and I hope that it has helped you make your movie going decisions!

Movies: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Movies: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

A childhood show, that most adults these days will still find familiar. Turtles that are teenagers, that are mutants and also ninjas! In fact probably those people who are in their teens right now might not know anything about this movie unlike their parents. Its been long since there was a remake and rightly so, because the past few remakes haven't been able to make their mark and stand out. However did this movie manage to overcome that hurdle?

Its a full remake which means that the movie starts right from the beginning of how they came to being. For those who don't know, here are the four cutsie pet turtle heroes. There is one other cutsie creature at least while it was still a pet in the movie but shall not be a spoiler here especially to those who don't know anything about this movie.

Turtles complete with colored masks

So how did this movie fare to me?

Storyline 3.5/5

The storyline is simple enough, following the focus of a girl who then chances upon these guys and then grows closer with them because of things happening. It's not a particularly too strong storyline but it's coherent and flowing enough plus a slight twist about the origins of these guys with respect to the girl.

Its not too complex probably because the director might want to appeal to the younger audience and this is perfectly fine for this movie. There is a good family vibe for this movie and it seems to be teaching the values of family.

The slow parts are particularly slow however and I found myself paying little attention to what was happening (Read as falling asleep). But these are pretty few and mostly focused on the front so once it got to the action orientated back portion it was good.

Character 3.5/5

All the characters are clearly distinct and have their own characteristics. Given the shorter movie time however, it can be slightly more improved but all in all they are clearly different turtles playing clearly different roles. Even the supporting characters have their own special personality except one of the villains

Cinematography 4/5

Michael Bay and Cinematography come together pretty well and this movie is full of it. They have the underground typed fight scene, car chase scene and on top of high rise fight scene. All done with good slow motion effects and all that. Its good and exciting action and probably the only big flaw is it may be slightly hard to follow when there is so many things happening. Nonetheless, more is good if that is your movie focus.

Music 3.5/5

Music is pretty strong and you will notice it throughout the movie. It will add to your immersion into the movie especially during the action scenes.

Spectacle 4/5

Lets get this out of the bag, the focus of this movie is on the casual movie goers INCLUDING children. That explains the shorter movie time and the simple storyline. Nonetheless its story is nice and coherent and keeps flowing all the way to the end while the action scenes are plentiful towards the back. Overall, it should give people the entertainment value that they are expecting. The kids that were sitting around me were pretty excited throughout the whole movie and its highly likely that they will be the next generation to appreciate these TMNT

They also made a lot of effort in the comedic department and overall, the movie is pretty enjoyable and laughable in a good sense.

Overall

Storyline: 3.5 (Simple but good origin storyline that is coherent and interesting to the end)
Character: 3.5 (Distinct and fun characters including the villains. Only one bad guy was neglected)
Cinematography: 4 (Good action scenes as expected from Michael Bay. Lots of explosions)
Music: 3.5 (Noticeable music track that adds to the movie entertainment value)
Spectacle: 4 (Good action, short and sweet storyline, funny most of the time)

Overall: 3.7 (Overall, a very enjoyable action flick with good sequences that caters both to the casual action lover as well as the children crowd. Most kids that I saw came out with a smile on their faces and enjoyed what they see. See this if you have 100 mins to kill or especially if you have children who want to see some action shows! It's nonetheless still not a 300 type of action movie but it does the job for most of its audience.)

Ironically a brief look at the other reviews gave it like 2 out of 5 stars which I think its pretty inaccurate. Reviewers should see how much the movie fit the general expectations and audience before saying how well it did! Nonetheless, if you have any disagreements don't hesitate to comment!

Movies: Guardians of the Galaxy

Movies: Guardians of the Galaxy

Another movie by marvel...

Wait what??

Who are all these people?!?! A green woman?? A kratos from "God of War"?? A Trent lost from Lord of the rings and WHAT!! A raccoon/squirrel/mouse/hamster???

Where is my Iron man, Captain America and ever so sexy black widow?!?!

Welcome to Guardians Of the Galaxy! The so called "Avengers of the Universe" as opposed to Avengers of Earth which are what we are familiar with being Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, the archer guy who doesn't have a show of his own and so on.

This is Marvel's first introduction into something rather different in the Marvel universe, no longer technology as in iron man, no longer gods as in Thor but rather, more like a star war styled movie.

In fact, this movie follows quite closely to those usual science fiction movie. So does the introduction of all these new people add much value to the show? Is it as good as the Avengers or X-men all of which are from Marvel? Read on to find out more.

Storyline 3/5 

The movie starts out pretty alright, starting off at earth to give the background story of the "captain america" of the galaxy guardians which is Star-Lord who is the leader in this gang. Then it moves on and gets them into prison and things happen and big bad guy with big bad dreams comes out and wants to destroy some stuff!

This is the common storyline for many many many science fiction show. Unfortunately, when put in its entirety because the Galaxy Guardian characters are not all like the heroes in our other Marvel universes, this movie is pretty close to an alternate version of Starwars.

The storyline is not horrible, but its just not entirely impressive. It's not boring as in that there are various different things that happens throughout the movie but all the things that happen has happened in many other movies before.

Some other things that happened during the movie also are right there at the unbelievable which takes away from the reality or immersion of the movie because you cannot really believe that such things will happen.

Character 4/5

The characters in the movie are in general pretty different from each other, not because of they have different skills (which they don't really have) but because of their different looks from each other. All the main characters have a different skin color. Just take a look at the poster. Human skin, red skin, green skin, furry and tree bark.

With reference to the abilities, there are a few special abilities mainly the tree and this other blue guy who is not one of the guardians, but an interesting character nonetheless. The producers did try to differentiate the characters from each other somewhat, but the human, red skin and green skin persons all in all are pretty similar unlike what you expect from avengers or x-men.

Cinematography 3.5/5

There are good action scenes as well as epic scenes of space and sky which is pretty good and for those characters with special abilities, they get their bit of screen time. However, you will realise that there are even more opportunities to show off more effects and to make things more fun especially for the main bad guy but the movie does not take its full potential to go one step further.

It does a good job as a scifi show, but did not exploit its Marvel aspect to make it more of a super human or super powered movie.

Music 4/5

This movie uses a lot of music as part of the story plot and not just to enhance its action scenes. Some of the music lyrics fit the situation of the movie and as such gave the show some entertainment value. Realism value on the other hand, took a bit of a hit due to its unorthodox use of music.

Spectacle 3.5/5

All in all, the movie did a above average job in terms of action and character diverseness as in the Marvel universe. Its not the top of the class for either though. Storyline wise was fine at least keeping most of the audience entertained all the way to the end. Those looking for a truly unique storyline however might not be able to see it.

Overall

Storyline: 3 (A bit too unrealistic for my liking. Its entertaining, but not entirely refreshing)
Character: 4 (Many diverse characters, but really could have highlighted or made them even more distinct)
Cinematography: 3.5 (Good exciting shots, but it seems more of just a scifi show as compared to a MARVEL sci fi show)
Music: 4 (Interesting use of music and fitting to the movie adding some value to it)
Spectacle: 3.5 (Above average in action and character uniqueness but far from being the top of its class)

Overall: 3.6 (All in all a good entertaining show from the Marvel world but if you don't put the Marvel License to it, it is nothing more then just another science fiction show. Marvel movies can do more then that. Storyline holds it back a bit being too ordinary but that is probably how the books got it written. Will be interesting to those who has never seen super heroes in space but those who seen other space movies like Star wars especially, won't be too impressed with the story especially since they seem to prefer to take the entertaining/fun storyline as compared to a realistic storyline. You won't regret seeing this movie as it is still entertaining as long as you are not expecting a totally unique storyline and just want to see the good effects.)

There is an after credits scene so stay tune all the way to the end.. as usual it signals a POSSIBLE new movie/character that may appear in the next movie. This new character is a really really unique one... more unique then a raccoon.. that's what I can say

Food: Han Ka Ram Korean Restaurant

Food: Han Ka Ram Korean Restaurant

Occasionally, you will find yourself in a strange place, unfamiliar, hungry, and with no willpower to move on, the need to just find a place that doesn't have a long queue and can keep you alive for a while longer takes over the need to find famous places that you can discover on the internet or on other review sites.

This is one of those places. The original intent was to go to eat at Mad for Garlic at International plaza, but upon seeing the long wait time due to the small size of the shops, we decided to just explore nearby and found this quaint little place.

I would expect that this place is well known to those working in the Tiong Bahru area but to those who are like me who work miles away, here's a review to help you decide whether you should make this trip and would it be worth it!

This place is located in B1 of the AXA tower and is a pretty small place. So what food we have here?

Here is the menu

Has a pretty reasonable variety ranging from the Bibimbap to the noodles to the soups and the rice cooked with meat. Its pretty good with a fair choice of meat.

Their set meal

They even have a set dinner promotion and at $35 nett it is a pretty reasonable spread. We got the Beef Deopbap set and the following are the pictures

The 3 side dishes

There are alot of other more expensive Korean restaurants that sell unlimited servings of side dishes, but here you are entitled to 3 (or is it 6) side dishes. They probably just meant 3 types of side dishes. Overall tasted pretty fine for a side dish, but it is not hard to go wrong with this.

Haemoel Pajeon or seafood pan cake

Here was the appetizer that we got. It was between this and some fried meat with veg. It was a reasonably big portion and tasted pretty good. It's not the best pan cake that I have eaten but it was at least crispy and tasted pretty nice.

Beef Deopbap

WHY IS THERE THAT P  inside!! deo-p-bap!!! so hard to pronounce. But this was easily the best korean meat I have eaten. It was even served in the a hot bowl to keep it nice and hot while we ate. And it was not burnt and stuck to the bowl either. The beef was nicely marinated. Only qualm was that there was so much more beef then rice. There was also an egg inside. Because of the lack of rice though, I personally thought it was not going to be filling.

KalbiTang

This was the beef ribs soup that we ordered with such a cute name! KALBI TANG! see it even sounds like mandarin! Tang!! I always knew i could speak korean. Either way, i counted 4 chucks of meat in total which is ok.... but the plus point was the meat was perfectly soft. Not over cooked, not under. Just nice. And served on the hot bowl again meant that the soup stayed hot. The soup tasted fine also and wasn't like too salty or MSG soup or anything like that

Overall, the taste of the food is up there, add to it the variety because you can choose any other type of soup as well as different types of meat. Like I said earlier, the food overall was just almost filling thanks to the pancakes but there could have been a bit more rice given or meat put into the soup.

Food 4/5

Atmosphere 4/5

It was a really quaint place, small, but it was well spaced out with a TV showing korean singing or korean MTV.  Not really a fan of that because they all look the same to me but its there! There was only one single girl staff doing the waitress but she really really really looked like she was working very very hard. I would even say she managed to do the job of 2 waitresses with the same level of professionalism.

She also showed some extra care when she actually directed us to change our seats to a 4 persons seat even though we were only two people to our confusion. After being confused for a while, we finally found out that because we ordered the set meals, it would be more comfortable to eat given a bigger table space. Its this kind of additional touch that made this place stand out.

Still, for one single staff it is hard for her to keep this up so they would have gotten more points should there be a bit more hands on deck.

Price 3.5/5

37.00 SGD for 2!

My impression when I eat korean food is that it is usually pretty expensive. Usually above 40 dollars. For this place however, we had a full meal complete with appetizer and even drinks at 37 dollars. Its cheap. 

Still being the cheapskate that I am, I would say it was almost at the 4 mark if they had put in a bit more rice into the rice bowl! I felt that more of the fillingness came actually from the pancake as compared to the rice and meat itself which was slightly a waste. 

Accessibility 4/5

Note the opening and closing times

Note that this place is not open on weekends at all!! NOT OPEN ON WEEKENDS! They should though.. if they had a branch else where. However, like many shops in the raffles place/tanjong pagar area... its closed during weekends. Nonetheless when we were there it was about 7 pm and we finished at 8 pm. The place was filled, but there was no queue outside or at best a 1 to 2 group queue. I suppose this place might be crowded during the weekdays itself given its good price and location in the office area.

If going for dinner however, a weekday dinner that is, it is veryveryvery near the Tanjong Pagar MRT exit. Less then 50 meters so it is easy to go if needed and with no visible queue, this is a place to try out. Anyway the number is over there in the name card so just give them a call if you wanna check it out!

Overall

Food: 4 (The taste is definitely there. It tastes authentically korean we were wondering if the chef was korean. Its nice and has good variety for you and your eating group)
Atmosphere: 4 (Good staff, could be more, but space is well utilized and spaced out)
Price: 3.5 (Drinks are included into a NETT price. Definitely cheap for korean food standards)
Accessibility: 4 (Easy to get there and IN there. Only qualm is no where else to go after)

Overall: 3.875 (A worthy high score pushed up because of good food and good service. A place you should consider going if you want a korean food fix. Also won't burn a hole in your pocket so you will feel pretty comfortable and content after.)

This place has no website but I believe the picture of the menu should help you know what to expect. Any readers who are from that Raffles Place/Tanjong Pagar area that eaten there before? Let me know your views!!

Food: Buffet Town

Food: Buffet Town

Was looking for a review to do today and manged to find out that I have slated to review before but didn't have a chance. Thankfully I ate at this place not more then 2 months ago so I can still remember the associated points to review about! So this place is none other then buffet town!

Its a pretty crowded and popular place that has been around for a while under raffles city (NOT AT RAFFLES PLACE MRT). The nearest MRT station for this place is City Hall station and you always see a queue outside of it especially before it begins its buffet sessions which are afternoon lunch and dinner only. It's an international buffet and I have some pictures that I took below that you can refer to!

So all in all how did the whole experience feel for me? Read on to find out!


So these are the pictures of the food we ate

Has soup, rendeng meat, sushi, snippets from every cuisine

 So like any international buffet this place has the obligatory cream of mushroom soup and on the japanese side they have all the sashimi from salmon as well as the tuna flavors

Some potato some fish and carrot cake plus ham

 Really many various types of food here, all these are already pre cooked and you just have to collect them up from the warmers

Of course international buffet has the thin crust pizzas, 3 types here

 3 types of pizzas being the seafood, meat type and the margherita which is like some vegetarian pizza

Cooked chicken

 There was actually also a station whereby they will directly cook some of the food choices provided there, they provided seafood which i believe is squid, then chicken and some veggies, so you can get the guy to freshly cook some meat from you

Adding the asian flavor to the mix

 Has also the satay cooking area right beside the cooked chicken area but for this you had to wait awhile because it was always empty. The moment the satay is done its quickly wiped off by other hungry customers

Some of our own cuisine

 The laksa that they cook relatively fresh for you! obviously the soup is already pre made! Pretty milky taste but overall its not the spicy type

Finally some spaghetti

To top it off there is also spaghetti from the Italian side of the world although pizza should be from there too!

Besides this, there were some other items not pictured here which are cold seafood choices Chilled Prawns, Mussels, Big and Juicy Freshly Shucked Oysters, Scallops, White Clams and Slipper Lobsters which is also advertised on the website. It didn't seem supremely enticing to me but if seafood is your thing this might be what brings u here.

There is also desert and drinks provided from cute little cakes down to crepes and ice cream which is about 4 varieties and fruits all that. Drink choices included soya bean, coffee and tea as well as a lot of ice teas peach green lemon and the rest of the soft drinks

Overall, the taste of the food however to put it bluntly is pretty ordinary. Nothing particularly stood out from its outside counter parts. Satay tastes better outside, laksa better outside etc. Probably not a surprise for a place that tries to cover everything. Sadder part was the foods that were already cooked like the potatos and rendang meats were not particularly hot either which doesn't feel as tasty. 

Probably, the only thing that has going for it is its variety. Its variety is pretty vast with at least 15 choices for even the most picky of eaters such as myself and I think there are about 25 to 30 choices of food out there. Nonetheless, you won't be very impressed with the taste of the food no matter what you eat. Just to clarify again, I didn't eat the seafood so especially if you don't eat seafood like me, your rating would probably be similar.

Food 3/5

Atmosphere 3/5

Sitting place wise the whole area is pretty well spaced but being buffet style there will be people walking past your area especially if you sit in the center section. The other areas are all at the sides which means you will be pretty far away from at least one station of the food.

There is little interaction with the waiting staff and some of the cooks tend to be doing their own things sometimes which means its hard to ask them about what you are supposed to do with the food at this station such as the teppanyaki cooking station whereby they just leave the food there without telling you explicitly that you need to pick the food and pass it to the staff. The staff also don't tell you when the next batch of satay is ready neither is there a visible queue. So these will make it slightly more disorganized then usual.

There is a lot that can be done to improve the customer service and overall feeling but its still passable as it is not unpleasant.

Price 2/5

Prices range from $26.80++ on a weekday lunch to $41.80++ for a weekend dinner. 

This for the quality of food and service atmosphere, is pretty crazy especially for the weekend dinner section. Put simply, there is probably no way the food you eat will feel worth the $41.80 dollars excluding the plus plus. 

Only plus point is that drinks and dessert are all provided in house at no extra charge but worth it? I don't really feel so.

Accessibility 3/5

Perhaps the only obviously positive point of this place is that it is near. However, this place has strange popularity that means that you might need to try to reserve a seat during peak periods or you need to queue up or reach there earlier just to secure your seat.

It didn't fail in this category due to its ease of getting there but there is little ease to getting in. Also they follow the end time strictly which means once you cross the 3 pm mark for lunch and 10 pm mark for dinner, there is nothing left for you as they pack up. So if you don't get in at 1 pm for lunch or at 7 pm for dinner, you probably should just come back another day.

Overall

Food: 3 (Variety is "vast" but food taste is nothing impressive at all)

Atmosphere: 3 (No clear instructions on what to do, confusing, not too attentive staff)

Price: 2 (Extremely overpriced for the standard of food honestly)

Accessibility: 3 (Near MRT, doesn't mean you will get in though)

Overall: 2.75 (A barely passable score. I'll put it bluntly, I have no reason to go back there to eat ever again and even if my friends were to suggest it I probably would tell them that there are other places to eat compared to this place. Nonetheless it is still ok to eat on a weekday lunch if you really have no where else to go. I have absolutely zero reasons to eat a weekend dinner there though. Keep your expectations low if you are going there and maybe just try to convince yourself that you are there for variety)

Been there before and don't agree with the score? Post your comments below!

Here is its website if you want to check it out!

Disclaimer: Since this is a neutral or slightly negative review, I would like to say that all this is just words of opinion based on the dishes we had. Its not a professional review but the first impressions of a layman as per blog objective. So please don't be offended if you are a staff from there!