Movies: Police Story 2013

Movies: Police Story 2013

A very strange title for a show, with an additional 2013 added at the end of the movie title. This is because there seems to be another movie released previously called Police Story that seems to not be related to this movie so the 2013 is added to highlight that it is a different movie. This movie is produced by none other than Jackie Chan and gang and of course involves Jackie and his kungfu antics.

As per his usual style, its a action, thriller flick that includes cops. So is this a show that you should see alongside the slew of other cop related shows such as firestorm and the white storm? Or does this movie pale in comparison? Is it too similar that there is no novelty of watching this movie now? Lets read on and find out

Storyline 3.5/5

This movie is presented in a rather unique manner, using the main storyline which is the hostage situation that the star cop gets himself into, as the backdrop into explaining how did this cop actually get into this situation in the first place i.e. why he was targeted to be a hostage in the first place. 

As a result, the whole story only comes together at the end of the movie where you will realise oh this is the whole trigger for the entire movie. In more obvious terms, this movie is basically a hostage situation that adds more fluff to the movie by including the story telling of the reason for the hostage taking in first place.

Because of this however, the early part of the show is actually slightly confusing as to what is happening and does take a bit of effort to try to link everything together. Not entirely a relaxing effort if you ask me.

None the less because of this, the two hour movie has enough substance to remain interesting and compelling but it overall it takes a bit of effort and even at the end when everything is reveal, the storyline is just at best above average. Will cover this further in the character section.

Character 3/5

This is where this movie is slightly lacking. Besides the main character played by Jackie, all the other characters have very minor and slightly confusing roles. However, one aspect that this movie wants us to try to experience is to empathize with the villain in the way he does things or the reason behind them. However, I personally feel that there is too little effort put into trying to flesh him out maybe cause of the time, or cause of the way the movie is presented and in the end there is little pity or whatever you are supposed to feel for him.

There are also too many characters that merely just appear to help drive the story slightly but they just seem randomly added and add little extra value but might have added unnecessary complexity to the story.

The main character is also probably supposed to be emotionally messed up in some way or other due to the history of things that has happened to him. However, because of this, the things he does are sometimes rather confusing and strange which would sometimes make the movie slightly unbelievable.

Cinematography 3.5/5

This movie does some aspects of cinematography well, and some not so well which overall averages out. It does good slow motion scenes and improve excitement and action level. However, the scene of the movie is generally dark and sometimes hard to follow since the star actor is moving around in the pipelines which is supposed to be dark.

Also 90% of the movie is confined to that single one place which does not help to retain the attention of the audience. (The feeling of 1 and a half hour into the movie and you are still in the same place)

It does try to use the alternative vision method to keep the movie interesting i.e. the movie will play out a possible scenario in the thought process if the person takes this action, while in the end he will decide not to take that action and do something else after considering the possible outcome.

Music 3.5/5

There is actually visible emphasis on the music in this movie and overall it does support the overall feeling of the movie. Nothing to spectacular but its effect on the movie is definitely there.

Spectacle 3.5/5

For a action movie, it is above average but definitely not one of Jackie's best work thus far. Storyline wise is pretty unique, but slightly too simple overall with no final OH SO THATS WHAT HAPPENED feeling. When everything in the end is revealed the feeling is rather muted and not entirely a big deal. The movie doesn't really play on twists and turns of the mind but rather just adds complexity by purposefully omitting details to be revealed later. Hence the audience does not really feel that they were misled or misunderstood anything which takes out a lot of the fun factor of plot twists.

Overall

Storyline: 3.5 (Somewhat unique, but complex and not that enticing)

Character: 3 (Too little drawing of the audience to empathize with the characters, also too many characters that seem to just randomly be added to minor effect)

Cinematography: 3.5 (There is visible effort but not above the top yet. Also has some not too great cinematography portions)

Music: 3.5 (Visible effort but not too fantastic.)

Spectacle: 3.5 (At best it is just merely above average for both aspects.)

Overall: 3.4 (Its not above 4 so its safe to say that this is not a must see movie honestly. You probably will still enjoy it if you like the genre and are pretty interested in the story telling method. However, you won't particularly be impressed by any aspect of the show. Given its 2 hours long, its ok if there are no other movies that interest you as long as you manage expectation. Note that for a Jackie Chan show, this movie does not have particularly much fight scenes.)

Its the last day of the year so safe to say this will be the last review for this year. Hopefully for the new year I will be able to consistently review more things and do more reviews :) Thanks for the support for this year and see you all next year :D

Movies: The White Storm

Movies: The White Storm

Its been a while since I last caught a chinese movie, and I had the opportunity to catch one recently. The nice part about chinese or actually Hong Kong movies in general is that they love to do action flicks involving gangsters and policemen and they generally do it pretty well. In fact one popular game called "Sleeping Dogs" uses Hong Kong as the backdrop of the game itself and its like GTA with Kungfu and Asians.

Sorry this its the game! not the movie.

Look at the KungFu GTA right there!

With the usage of these 3 actors whom seem to always work together, will we have a combination that would be a hit in the box office? Take note that the title totally does not make any sense. Its not a racist movie dealing with white supremacy, neither is there a hurricane or storm involved in the movie. Nope, its not a hurricane that came from some western country either... GEDDIT!??! WHITE STORM?!?!?!

Now this is the movie!

Plenty of guns here.. pretty useless against... (WOOPS nearly spoilered! ^_^ )

Ok enough of that. Lets see how the movie fared!

Storyline 4/5

Whoa whoa whoa really? That high a score? Yep.. to be honest this show could deserve even a 4.5 if Hong Kong didn't keep doing cop shows that has explored almost every possible angle and way of doing the cop genre, this movie would be pretty high on the creativity chart.

What this means is that basically, from the start all the way to the end, you will be drawn in by the evolving storyline, confused (positively) in certain areas and then it all gets clear again. The way the show is shot and its focus on 3 different cops plays a very important role in keeping the audience interested. Whats more, this show allows a long time budget, which means they do have sufficient time to do every scene properly and flesh out the movie appropriately. Little screen time is considered redundant.

The movie also changes from Hong Kong, to Thailand for a fair bit of the show which prevents monotony of seeing the same scenes and people.

In fact, given the amount of plot twists in this show,  and how it managed to keep me interested all the way, I shall go ahead and score it as 4.5 for overall scoring and you will agree with this point especially if you havent seen a Hong Kong cop show for a while.

Storyline 4.5/5

Character 4.5/5

The character development in this movie is pretty astounding considering that they had to focus on 3 main characters throughout the movie and yet all three are distinct people with varying backgrounds and yet good and fair screen time. It is their chemistry that greatly adds to the enjoyment of the movie and during one of the movie's quiet time you will appreciate the relationship that these 3 actors have actually built in their acting careers and see how the movie directors have put this into great effect. All in all, you will be concerned and realise how different people think and relate, but the end of the movie sums out everything very nicely and you should be pretty well pleased.

The supporting cast in this movie is also very entertaining although in some way they are slightly a bit more bland due to lack of screen time. Nonetheless, during the little moments that they appear, they do make a very good impact and the actors chosen from the role do perform very convincingly.

Do look out for the famous actor/ess from Thailand that really spices up the show because of the person's background. Its a good way to make use of or even exploit the person's off screen personality for the benefit of the movie and the person.

I'll just put the person's picture here and let you find out the rest

Its the one in the middle of course.

Cinematography 4/5

From the eyes of action, it could be slightly more pronounced but all in all, there are very good shots in this movie, from close up and even from high above. Its well done, adds a lot of value to the movie, they even use black and white shots to highlight and invoke certain emotions. Its done well, but there is room for improvements!

Music 4/5

Its not a musical, but this movie is smart in its utilization of music to bring about and highlight a theme about their friendship throughout the movie. Very smart way to incorporate this in and it is done to great effect on the audience. You will appreciate it when you see it.

Spectacle 4.5/5

In terms of action show, it does it well and even has a good storyline to boot! In terms of thrilling, it has enough twists and turns throughout the movie to really place this movie high up amongst the other movie in its two focus area. In terms of character development, this movie takes its time and highlights everyone, using all of them and showing all their strengths and vulnerabilities. It even throws in a few comic relief here and there in very intelligent manner to keep the show entertaining.

All in all its very smart way of doing a movie by focusing and doing well in as many prominent aspects as possible such as action, character development and storyline.


Overall

Storyline: 4.5 (Intriguing, well done and entertaining all the way)
Character: 4.5 (3 main characters all fleshed out, important supporting characters also fleshed out and well used)
Cinematography: 4 (Action flick could be further improved, but its already above average)
Music: 4 (Good use of musical aspect for the friendship theme of the movie)
Spectacle: 4.5 (Definitely above other movies in the same genre in terms of action, storyline and character development)

Overall : 4.3 (The only possible flaw that is clear in this movie is that it is not in english! Besides that, its an action show, that remains interesting despite its long show time, has sufficient plot twists and turns as well interesting characters all the way in the movie. There is no reason that someone will dislike this show, as it has the best of every possible aspect in the movie. If you are looking for something to do for like 2 hours of your time and you like action movies, this movie will work out fine for you.)

Should be catching another movie that just came out which is "Last Day on Mars" so sit tight and I should get a review up soon!

Cheers! and as usual leave your comments below if any!

Movies: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Movies: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Hi all, was fortunate again to have the chance to catch a movie soon after its release, and as a result, felt the need to review it so that people can actually read up and have a better expectation of the movie before going to see it! To clarify though, I have actually read all three books after seeing the first movie which was called "The Hunger Games". I would have to say that this movie follows the book pretty well in terms of its starting point and its end point but will this work to the movie's benefit or not? That is the main question to be answered here.

For those who don't know about this movie yet, this movie follows the life of a girl called Katniss in an alternate world scenario whereby the world is divided into various districts with a single capital city. The various districts all live a life of forced labor to produce all the products and things that the capital needs, while the capital enjoys a luxurious and more loose type of life style. Every year, they will have this hunger games whereby two people from each district are chosen to battle out in a free for all battle royal style in a specially designed arena.

This is the arena for the 75th Hunger games... wanna participate?

These are the participants... still wanna participate?

Katniss in the previous movie was the winner of the 74th Hunger Games which you can probably see on your own computer these days, and this continuation movie follows how her life or has not changed after winning. The catch is however, that she offended some very powerful people in the 74th Hunger Games and hence these people are taking it out on her as well as other people in this 75th Hunger Games. I shan't reveal anything more about this movie to not spoil it for others. So lets break it down and see how did it perform in the categories!

Storyline 3.5/5

This is a movie that is supposed to be rich on story line given that it is a new world with new laws and regulations and the way things are supposed to be. The main issue it has here is that this movie focuses less on the new world but rather tries to focus on Katniss' new life as a Victor of the previous games but doesn't do anything particularly interesting or striking.

Without any focus on telling the audience any new things or information about this world where this movie is based in, it does little to attract the attention or intrigue the audience resulting in a lack of appreciation for the things that are happening.

This is even more pronounced because this movie is a continuation to the previous and things that are happening in this movie actually were quite similar to the previous, and you could actually say that this movie is too similar to what happened to the previous movie. Hence for those who saw the previous movie it is really hard to like it as much as the first when the producers did not do anything more to flesh out this world.

Character 3/5

This is a pretty underrated aspect of the movie that could have been greatly improved, like seriously greatly improved. This movie has many many participants from the other districts but instead of having a bit of focus on how unique these participants are, they are just touched on very slightly. There are some who are not even mentioned although the book doesn't mention them either, but movies do need something fresh and interesting to keep the interest of the audience.

Also, the relationship between the main characters are not new or fresh which is another flaw only because this movie is a continuation. Like I said, you will generally just see what has happened in the previous movie... but even then it is not as interesting or well fleshed out.

In the end, you hardly feel anything for the many characters which is sad as it could have been done so much better.

Cinematography 3/5

Its pretty sad that the movie did not really stand out too much even in this aspect. I would probably say that this movie was not meant to be a action flick but it did have a lot of opportunity to at least do so and entertain the audience on another aspect of the movie. (If storyline is not as good, make the action better) There were many bird eye shots but aside from that, there was little to actually immerse the audience into the movie.

Music 3.5/5

Music was there, but it was nothing entirely special or striking. It did add to what immersive feelings that the show had but I can't really say it helped the movie greatly.

Spectacle 3/5

Sadly, I would say that this movie did not perform well in any of the aspects that it could have done well which was mainly the storyline section or the action section. If it was me, I would have put in extra budget on highlighting and giving the other participants in this hunger games events or opportunities to differentiate themselves from each other to add more character value. I would put in more action sequences just to entice the action loving crowd and use different perspectives to add in the immersiveness.

Storyline wise, it actually told very little or made too little advancement of the story for the time frame given to this movie which might not have been the fault of the movie itself as the story book also was like this and they were trying to stay true to the source material.

However, if this movie carries on to the third installation, I would say the movie can easily redeem itself as the 3rd book does have a lot of potential.

Storyline 3.5 (Too little advancement due to source material, they could have focused on fleshing out the world and its people instead)
Character 3 (All additional people were pretty highly forgettable, really, flesh out the world more, the source material did allow for this.)
Cinematography 3 (It was at best just above ordinary as there was no real epic scenes while some scenes have been seen before in the previous movie)
Music 3.5 (It was fine, adding somewhat to immersion)
Spectacle 3 (Did not do entirely well on the aspects that it should have done well in like storyline or cinematography)

Overall 3.2 (I would say this score reflects the advice that I will give to you, see this movie if you seen the first and you could roughly derive some enjoyment from it, most likely less then the first movie, but as you guessed by now, there will be a following movie to complete the story and if you actually missed this one, its no real big deal as nothing big did happen. You could basically just wait for the 3rd movie to come out first, which will be in a year or so, and see this movie at home in your own leisure. All in all, see it if you want, but if you don't, you can always see it at a later date.)

P.S for the rest of you who are not satisfied at the ending, you can always follow the book to have complete closure while waiting for the last movie to be released. Hopefully they don't split it unnecessarily into two movies though... although it is possible if they so desire.

I have also added genre labels and tags to my posting so next time you can have a better idea of what the post and content is about!

And now its back to studying, so catch ya all later! Share your comments if there are any!

Food: Da Paolo Pizza Bar

Food: Da Paolo Pizza Bar

Hi all, have been working pretty hard these days and with exams coming up its rare for me to get chances to catch movies... however, there is always time to eat and sometimes its good to pamper yourself on food since its a necessity anyway! Like you probably have experienced, there are times when you don't know or cannot decide what to eat, so if you need some inspiration, here is a place that you can consider!

Nested in a nice place down at Holland village, you can go there and eat with a bit of the expat feeling as this Pizza bar is not in Holland village main area itself, but along a private road lined with many other places like this.

Forgot to take a picture of their menu, but this place has its fair share of pizza and salads with pretty ok prices that I will elaborate on further down.Note that their food names are all those italian or some other language sounding like one.. so you probably should read the food description to know what appears in your food. For us, this was what we got!

Portofino which is actually supposed to be crayfish!

The crayfish is the most expensive pizza there probably due to the meat choice, but the content of meat is not entirely plentiful to be honest.

Mari e Monti which is Salmon and stuff!

We got 2 pizzas for 3 people which is pretty much in reality, you could probably feed four people easily as the pizza are all 12 inches. Of course unlike pizza hut, these pizza have thinner crusts so you wont be too filled up by the flour. The cheese also tastes pretty nice and it is all cooked fresh.

Overall, this is the type of pizza that focuses on the quality of the ingredients and they are pretty good tasting. I personally ate 8 slices by myself which was actually one whole pizza and I did not get bored of the taste unlike some other pizza that I have eaten else where.

All in all, in terms of food taste, I would give this a

Food 3.5/5

Atmosphere 4/5

This place has the advantage of the atmosphere. Being located further from the more crowded Holland village, the whole place is open air but we hardly felt hot thanks to the design of the place and how far away the tables are spaced. You could even sit on the outside of the shop which is similarly nicely shaded and the sitting tables and chairs are comfortable looking. It is really a quiet place and you could consider using the place if you just want to have a chit chat session with a bit of drinks here and there.

They also have a very comfortable toilet which does honestly add to the atmosphere for a very clean and orderly place

The staff is also pretty friendly and positive looking which makes the experience more pleasant. Not entirely the type to wait on you constantly but at least they response fast, and you don't need to put in too much effort to get their attention. The food also comes pretty quickly.

Price 3/5

For 3 people of whom I believe all were pretty filled by the food, this meal ended up to about 20+ per pax. So its is above average on the price point. There's no need to spend on drinks as water is provided but when we where there, I believe they were having a 1 for one deal for beer, wine or spirits.

Accessibility 4/5

Interestingly, this place is actually very very easy to get to via car or public transport. For MRT takers, don't get out via the same exit for the usual Holland Village shops. Its the other exit. Once you are out of that exit, it is like maybe just a 3 - 5 mins walk away. There is also a car park at the back of the line of shops and right in front of the pizza bar itself actually. We went there during dinner time and it was hardly packed either which means you can get a seat and start your meal quickly and comfortably. Not to say it was not popular also however as it was about 3/4 filled all the time we were there during a weekday night.

Overall

Food: 3.5 (Food tastes classy and has a good variety of pizzas and salads. Not extremely unique but tastes like what you would expect)
Atmosphere: 4 (Atmosphere here is very good, cooling, quiet, peaceful and the staff are friendly)
Price: 3 (Is in the above average price range but does fill up the person sufficiently and the quality of food can somewhat justify the cost)
Accessibility: 4 (Very very easy to go even on a whim as there should be space and its near the MRT)

Overall: 3.6/5 (Like I said in the previous review, 3 would be a place you wont regret visiting once just for the experience. 3.6 would be a place that you can consider going on the off occasion of trying to find a place to meal and you happen to have a pizza craving. Only issue that it has is that pizza in general, is not difficult to do well and hence there are many similar places and similar prices all over Singapore.This is a good place especially if you want to have a area to just hang out and slowly enjoy a peaceful evening. )

Pay the place a visit and see if you agree with me :)

Food: Tim Ho Wan

Food: Tim Ho Wan

Hi all again! Its been a while since I did an update on food, but after hearing about the hype about Tim Ho Wan, and finding out that there was one in Toa Payoh which incidentally is pretty near where I live, I decided to give it a shot to see whether this place is worthy of the legendary queue that the branch at Plaza Singapura is. Of course this review is on Tim Ho Wan and its food in general although I ate at the Toa Payoh Branch. However, there is no reason to suggest that the standard and style of food is different although there will be adjustments in other criteria depending on the location.

This time I took pictures a plenty of everything I ate :)

Heres the logo for those who still dunno what i am talking about

So here goes the review:

Here is the menu, you can zoom in and take a look

The first picture is basically the menu. It seems like in Tim Ho Wan, this is the entire menu already. As you can see the there is maybe about 20 items at most which I guess is a fair enough variety, although i distinctly remember that if you eat dim sum at other places there is just a bit more variety such as when you eat in Malaysia or Hong Kong. Even some other outdoor coffee shops in Singapore has a slightly larger spread.

Nonetheless lets try looking it as quality over quantity.

Baked Bun with BBQ pork

This is supposed to be their signature dish, alongside their egg cake, vermicelli roll with liver and turnip cake. I only tried the bake bun and not the rest just for your information. Admittedly however, their bake bun was cooked fresh, and has very good texture. Its the first time I ate a bun like that as compared to our usual white colour bao at the other dim sum places. It is also quite filling and the "filling" was nice and hot. If you were to visit, you should go there and try this, but given the choices in the menu I believe you will buy one set at least.

Beef Balls with Beancurd Skin

This was another dish that I never ate before. I ordered it cause it was beef. Cooked in different style with the beef held together by some kinda glutinous goo. Sadly, this one was way off my expectation in that I didn't really taste anything at all, neither was the meat chewy or anything like that. The texture was too unimpressive.

Siew Mai or Pork dumpling with Shrimp

For people who know me well, they will know that this is the thing I will eat when ever I go for Dim Sum. In fact this could very well be the only thing I eat and I will still be satisfied! This siew mai is a little different from what i am used to as there is a relatively stronger mushroom taste. Coupled with the provided chilli sauce which is not your "Maggie" brand, this was pretty nice. At least above average in taste. Not sure how you would react if you hate mushrooms though...

Vermicilli Roll with BBQ pork

This Chee Chong Fun with BBQ pork is ordinary to be honest. The sauce that is provided as the gravy is not really strong on taste and in the end it merely tastes the way a CCF is supposed to taste. Nothing too impressive but it will do as the source of carbo.

Prawn Dumpling

This one was pretty good. The prawn feels very nice and chewy and even the dumpling skin is pretty chewy with good texture. It is also relatively larger then other prawn dumplings. Its a must try if you were to go there. At least get one basket.... well with a menu like that you will get one basket anyway

Rice with Beef and Fried Egg

 I bought this because I thought i might not have enough food to be full. However this proved to be a mistake. This rice with beef is the same beef as the one above, and the sauce provided is most likely the same as the CCF one. So put rice with tasteless and strange textured beef along side unimpressive sauce you get a clump of beefy rice. Probably not a necessary buy over there unless you really like rice. If you like beef you also probably wont get your fill from here.

All in all for food in terms of taste, texture and variety, I would give this....

Food 3.5/5

Atmosphere 3/5

As far as the atmosphere is concerned, the place is generally cramp both in TPY and PS which would mean its small, and crowded feeling. However the arrangement of tables and chairs do allow a fair bit of space between tables so you don't feel entirely congested kudos to them. Of course this does mean that people will have to queue longer for their food but overall it will probably help the full experience. The staff are pretty fast to respond and in generally good workers, the kind that will attend to your needs and not the kind that will purposefully look away from you. It's a workable arrangement for maximum efficiency and the food will come pretty quickly as  you expect in a Dim Sum place.

Price 3/5

This is where I think there could be some improvements. For two people eating there you would probably expect to spend about 20 per pax. We spent about 50 for two people for the above mentioned dishes. The price for one basket of stuff is about $4.20 although admittedly they do come in stack of 4 instead of someplaces where they come in 3s. Still there are some Dim Sum places outside that charge quite a bit cheaper in those coffee shops. I would say that you will get what you pay for in terms of food quality and the concept that this is something brought over from Hong Kong with a more restaurant atmosphere.

Of course for Singaporeans however, or at least the lay person, it could always be cheaper :) especially when you read the next section.

Accessibility 2.5/5

 The locations of the two branches in PS and TPY are fantastic, easy to access to via MRT especially for PS. The TPY branch needs about 3 mins walk from the TPY MRT but it is relatively convenient. Tell me if you need directions cause in this time and age, you probably could just use the location that I provided in this blog and google map it.

That being said. The queue is probably the main determining factor of whether you would actually want to come here to eat or not. Both sides have excessive queues which will be filled up during peak times like dinner. Probably expect to wait for even more then 1 hr which was what my friend told me when he queued at PS. I personnally skipped all the queue when I went there to eat at 3 pm so this could be a way you can experience THW without this hassle.

The shops are obviously too small for the expected crowd but that being said, expanding the shop without consideration could harm the food or service quality.

Overall

Food: 3.5 (Food has the Hong Kong taste, but not everything is entirely palatable or tasty)
Atmosphere: 3 (Also has the Hong Kong feel, not too crowded but I wont say its very comfortable)
Price: 3 (Noting that things come in 4s and not 3s, there is a slight premium price on its branding and restaurant like status.) 
Accessibility: 2.5 (Queue is the deal breaker in this case and it has a easy to get to location, but once you are there, you need lots of time to GET IN)

Overall: 3 (This score is a good reflection of what I believe you should do. 3 means its a place you should at least go to once, in fact go there during your weekdays off and skip the queue. Had this place have zero queue, I probably would go there more often but factoring the queue and the not too exemplary quality of food, you could coax yourself into alternatives elsewhere. It doesn't seem to have reservations either. Malaysia and Hong Kong would have better overall packages that you could live with. I personally don't feel any extreme urge to eat there again unless I have friends who do want to try it out for experience sake or they are great fans of some dishes. Even then, probably not during the peak hours.)

Ate at Tim Ho Wan before? Wanna share your experience? How was your queue there? Share them with us in the comments below...

Movies : The Mortal Instruments, City of Bones

INTRODUCTION

Hi all, it is fortunate that this time i managed to catch another movie right at its release and am able to give you guys a review on the movie so that most of you will not have already seen the movie and can consider whether to catch this 130 min action flick in the theatres. OR perhaps its merely worth a weekday ticket... or maybe not seeing at all. In most cases, helping you all manage expectation will definitely help make the trip to the movies more worth your time and money. So its a win-win situation no matter how I look at it!

So for those who don't know about the movie, heres the poster below

Nice looking City.. doesnt really look boney

Lets be realistic though, as far as this movie is concerned, the city is not the STAR or the main character but rather these little fellas below.. and of course the one in the middle is the biggest role!

Star is in middle, the one beside are co-star and the furthest away probably supporting cast.
The natural progression of things. So make sure your always in the middle of your pics!

Next curious question... Why is there a "THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS" in front of the City of Bones? So is this movie the mortal instruments or the city of bones?? Confusing yea? Well basically the City of Bones is part of a bunch of books by a Cassandra Clare. The main title would be The Mortal Instruments and amongst this title there are several books that start with City, namely City of Fallen Angels, City of Glass and City of Ashes. She also has another main series called The Infernal Devices.... which is a three parter series.

BUT, all the above information is for the book fans. Lets be realistic... I would rather watch a movie compared to reading the entire book cause its just paying a few extra dollars to see a book brought to life. And... I don't have to read.... So this review is for those who have NOT read the book. I am not going to talk about how this movie is in line with the book blahblahblah, but rather, how is City of Bones as a movie itself! So there is zero bias for me as I have not read the book at all!

So back to the movie itself, how does it fare on the layman's scale?!?!


Storyline 3/5

We have entered into a age of fantasy books started by the Harry Potter series, then into the Lord of the Ring Series, the into Hunger Games, Percy Jackson and this is next in line, the Mortal Instrument series. The advantages that all these fantasy shows have is that, in terms of storyline, it is more difficult to do badly purely because it is an introduction to a new world and because of that, it feels fresh generally.

Unfortunately, precisely cause its probably the 5th movie to come out in the same style, it feels slightly more ordinary because like all these movies, this first movie is the introduction into the Mortal Instruments world. You will be following the main character's learning of her uniqueness in the world and how to make use of her abilities and all that.. and this is similar to at least 2 of the 5 movies i listed above.

Next, this movie also leans towards the werewolf, vampire fantasy world that we have alongside hunters and the like. As a result, from both this aspects the storyline is fine, but its not spectacularly different in fantasy when compared to movies like underworld and twilight.

As a result, this movie plays out pretty much the way you expect it to, with little elaborate twists in the movie. Don't get me wrong, there are some twists but when you see it, you will think to yourself.... oh so its that kinda movie again. Also, it did get slightly confusing towards the end part and some of the stuff that was done is somewhat unbelievable. (Read, doesn't seem in-line with the character)


Character 3/5

Like in your usual fantasy books, these movies tend to have quite a bit of characters as they probably need to have some important character in every other fantasy race that exists.

At least the 5 characters above have SOME bit of personality, but it is nothing really distinctive or special amidst all the movies that you have now. They also generally seem to be from the same fantasy group so it is not really striking out as totally interesting.

There are other supporting casts that do play a reasonably significant role in this movie and they do try to make an effort to distinguish each of the fantasy races to a certain extent. However, the movie does not focus too much on elaborating on the culture of these races even within the 130mins of the movie.

But just for fun, here is what you will see... its in the posters so its not really spoilers..

The standard Hunter

The usual star of the show who was somehow CHOSEN for some reason

A handsome guy :P

The characters are also conflicted in this movie ala Twilight style but somehow or other, there is a bit LESS connection that you will feel towards them. I am not sure why but its a bit harder to feel the spark...

Cinematography 4/5

There is pretty above average cinematography in this movie in particular why one of the character in this movie loves to throw his weapons into the ground for seemingly no reason. There are also a few good shots and effects in this movie but if this movie is really trying to be an action flick... its just lacking in some areas to make it clearly better then the rest.

Music 3/5

Music is actually pretty forgettable... As per my usual comment, if i know there is music its a 3... if there is some impact called by the music.. its more then that.. if its a full fledged musical.. then the score will be higher. That being said, you could in theory still create a movie whereby the music does have a real positive impact... but thats not this show.

Spectacle 3/5

All in all, this movie tries to be like the movies before it which were converted into the big screen. Unfortunately, due to the many other movies preceding this, it tries pretty hard, but is not, in my opinion, able to stand out well enough from the other movies.

In terms of it being an action flick also, the sad thing about this movie is it did have much potential to go further in this term of action, to make it more exciting and larger on scale. However, they probably took too much time trying to expand on the storyline, which is probably what you should do for the book fans, but took out the action time. In fact, some major clashes or fights were resolved within seconds which probably wont really appease the action lovers.

As a result, thanks to the forgettable and not as unique storyline, as well as the non strong action showing, it didn't do enough to be great. Finally, a little let down point in this movie is that for a movie that could go into a tri or quadlogy, it actually ended properly in this movie itself. As a result, you will have a feeling that the movie is completed, and if you didnt know about the books, you will actually feel it as such. Hence hampering the look forward to next instalment feeling.

Storyline : 3 (Cliche storyline, it would have done better if it was the first one to do this type of story, not really entirely engaging for its 130mins of showtime)
Character : 3 (Many characters, some from different fantasy line, but all give little impression)
Cinematography : 4 (Good try for good shots, there is some immersing value, but not enough)
Music : 3 (Its there, but does not add anything particularly unique)
Spectacle : 3 (Not strong in the storyline department, neither was it strong in the action department)

Overall : 3.2 (Overall, a show you COULD see if you had the time to spare especially during the weekdays. Action fans might be slightly disappointed by the action, storyline fans might be slightly disappointed by the normal sounding story. So the only people who would probably enjoy this movie would be those who dun mind a merely above average story with above average action when viewed together in a package. Still for 2 hrs of time you probably would still be able to sit still and watch the movie till the end but you probably should lower your expectations a bit for the movie if you want to enjoy it.)

Saw the movie? Disagree with my opinions? Share it with me :)

Movies : Pacific Rim

Movies : Pacific Rim

INTRODUCTION

Finally, a opportunity whereby my review will be of maximum use to readers! I am finally able to see a movie on the release date itself.. or actually just right after its release date. Well those are just semantics! So, like i said before in the previous review, I finally got down to seeing Pacific Rim and I won't lie, I saw it only because WarZ was not yet out. But thanks to this opportunity, I will be able to share with you the review before you go see it for youself and hopefully, you would agree with my review and make the appropriate choice of whether you should spend your 212 mins in this movie!

For those still unaware despite the advertisements all over the trains, this is the show

Whoa, thats a big poster.. well probably because this is a BIG show! it has a budget of $180,000,000... thats alot of zeroes!

So on the left you have the robot or in this movie the Jaeger and on the right its GODZILLA's Brother-in-law! Yes thats right! In this movie, you not only get to see "Transformers that do not transform" but also Godzilla's pen pals from another universe!

Anyway lets dive into the review


Storyline 4/5

The storyline has an advantage over the recent movies that were released just this and the previous months. This advantage is that this movie is not a sequel. Hence it does have the novelty factor that allows it to stay interesting longer merely just because it is an introduction to a new world. It introduces the new background as well as all the jaegers and kaiju which is a good thing in keeping the audience intrigued.

This movie also does well in not restricting itself to the usual good guy not dying rules and there is a fare bit of killing off of people which makes the story line more believable and less predictable. It also has clearly two different story arcs that helps split the 212 mins movie and prevents monotomy.

There are however some storyline inconsistencies with reality but I feel that we should not be too critical on this as it is clearly a work of fiction in a different world which gives room for alternate natural laws of the world.

Characters 4/5

There are quite a number of important HUMAN characters in this movie, lets make it clear first, this is not like transformer whereby the emphasis is on the robot itself. Its more like those plane pilot shows where the emphasis is on the pilot instead.

I would say that there is 2 main characters and nearly 5 or 6 sub characters with quite a good character fleshed out. They are clearly distinct from each other and do have significant screen time. This is of course because of the two different lines that the story is trying to tell.

But of course this movie still has other key elements, which are obviously the robots/jaeger itself. Sadly, this show is meant to represent the last stand of the humans which means we wont be seeing lots of robots vs lots of monsters. None the less, all robots are clearly distinct as well as their pilots and its good that the monsters too are quite distinct in the way they do battle. So you wont always be seeing the same types of fights.

Still, its not full marks due to the lack of exploiting the potential of the distinct robots and their entertainment value in battle. You will get what i mean if you see it.

Cinematography 3.5/5

Epic battle is epic. These battles are all large scale and very dramatic with all our cities being nothing more then battle locations for these giant robots. Many many overhead shots as well as action shots that try to convey the impact of every punch and kick in the movie.

What it lacks however is a bit of perspective shots and also it is occasionally pretty hard to see due to the dark setting of the movie and hence you might not enjoy the movie as much as you could have.

There is also quite a bit of slow motions, and then suddenly quick movements that is a bit unsettling during the movie. When the fights move underwater also, the movements tend to be slower which is realistic, but not as action packed as our usual movies would be.


Music 4/5

Music is very relevant in this movie. The score even has chinese undertones especially for the scenes involving Hong Kong. Hence it is a pretty significant effect on the audience and makes the movie that much more immersive.

Also, the sound effects are good and impactful that makes people all cringe and feel the pain that the robots or monsters feel.

Spectacle 4/5

Overall, for an action movie, this movie has alot going for it. A strong and interesting story, many angles and stories to tell justifying the long movie timing. Great epic shots with good introductions to most of the monsters and the robots. Lots of death and destruction even of seemingly important  characters.

There are spaces for improvements in all these areas, but by and large, the epic scale of action and fighting coupled with a coherent storyline put this movie well above the average grade of an action movie in this few months.


Storyline : 4 (It is entertaining and different angle means it fills up the time well)
Character : 4 (Many people to introduce and given what else the movie needs to introduce, it does a well above average job)
Cinematography : 3.5 (Bit dark at times but the actions are made better due to the shots)
Music : 4 (Good music that supports the atmosphere of the movie)
Spectacle : 4 (Does well in comparison with the action movies in these few months, but is not really a trend setter that has set itself clearly apart)

Overall : 3.9 (As with many action movies, it is easy to cater to most of the audience especially when coupled with a new world, coherent storyline and long movie time filled with action. Hence, I would say that this movie will probably entertain anyone who is looking for a cost effective movie for its pure entertainment value. People who would regret seeing this movie would be few, but it just stops short of a truly MUST see movie.)

Thought the movie sucked? Or maybe the storyline was too inconsistent with reality for you? Well feel free to share your views :) Till next time!

Movies : Despicable Me 2

Movies : Despicable Me 2

INTRODUCTION

Somehow, when movies come out they seem to like to target exactly the same audience and fight for viewership. This is the case of Despicable Me 2's release alongside Monsters University. However, in the fight for advertisement place, Despicable Me 2 was the clear winner with more people having knowledge of this show as compared to Monsters University. In fact, chances are that many of you would have seen this movie way before this review... which is a sad thing, but nonetheless, for those few who are still out there contemplating whether they should see this show, read more to decide and find out.

So for those few who are still unaware, heres the poster for the movie!

One of the many minions

Heres another

The boss Grue and his minions

Here goes the review

Storyline 3/5

The movie's main story plot is supposed to be emphasizing on how a villain can provide much assistance to the police because of their knowledge of how a villain thinks. Only problem is, this villain happens to be a budding father of 3 girls as well as the owner of a team of evil (READ as CUTE) minions that assist him in doing his bidding and all his manual labour.

The storyline for a cartoon type of movie is pretty much what you would expect. There is a whole overarching plot with very minimal twists and turns probably to cater to its supposed younger audience. Nonetheless, it is a good enough plot to provide the substance to actually focus on its main draw, which is its characters.

Character 4/5

This is probably their principle focus of the entire movie. In fact, from the posters seen above, some might even mistake this movie to actually be focusing on the minions itself. Alas the core character in this movie remains to be the human (or rather ex-villain Grue which is the hunch backed pointy noise person in the 2nd poster or if you are lazy to refer.. this guy here)

Look at his pointy nose!

He would be the main focus, and the secondary focus actually falls onto his supporting cast... WHICH is still not the minions, but rather his 3 "daughters"

The 3rd most screen time type of characters would then finally be the minions right at the bottom.

With so many characters to focus on, this movie creates a problem of too little screen time with any one of them and hence although they are entertaining, they don't really have much to remember about themselves. You could probably only describe all of them in 2 sentence and struggle to come out with any more descriptions. 

Still, this is probably a good move to attract the younger and cute loving crowd which actually was the draw of the movie for many people.

Cinematography 3.5/5

Cinematography is normal, at best it would be slightly above average due to some shots focus on providing comic relief via good perspectives, and also the occasional unique perspective shots such as a first person view. Its not action movie impressive though and there are little wow shots. 

All in all, the shots are trying to be funny, rather then to impress and those far off shots taken are just too colorful to look epic.

Music 3.5/5

Music as with many cartoon movies is above average, probably worth listening during the movie and does add some immersion value but after that, its pretty forgettable.

There are some fun moments when the minions start to do some singing, but its at the end of the show and just seems to be for the purpose of generating laughs. Its funny and cute, but thats all it is.

Spectacle 3.5/5

This is the place where its harder to give a score. I am facing this problem because many people seem to enjoy it, but it really was not impressive in the action front, neither was the storyline good. The only aspect that was going for the movie was actually the minions, which like i said, was the main draw, but actually had not very significant screen time.

I would even go so far as to say that perhaps this show would have been more fun had it focussed entirely on the minions only. This probably would be the direction this movie would take, to flesh out the minion's story and lifestyle more instead of Grue and the kids. Still, the movie was almost able to be entertaining all the way to the end for me and I guess that would be good justification to see this show, but only if you 1. are a fan, 2. have a lot of spare time, 3. Have kids who wanna see the show, 4. Have excessive money!, 5, Have a girlfriend who wants to see the show, that sort of thing.


Storyline : 3 (Generic animation kind of storyline, pretty one sided and simple)
Character : 4 (Many characters, some of which are particularly lovable)
Cinematography : 3.5 (There are attempts, but nothing to impressive)
Music : 3.5 (Just above average, like above, there are attempts but its more for fun then for music)
Spectacle : 3.5 (Provides entertainment value but does not excel in anything else besides cute factor)

Overall : 3.5 (Overall, a 3.5 score shows that fans will be able to enjoy the movie, casual movie goers probably won't regret seeing the movie, but they would probably not regret NOT seeing the movie either. Thankfully it appeals to some ladies and children which will most definitely help it up in the box office. The tons of free advertisement out in the net and on you tube also helps.)

So heres my very late review of Despicable Me 2, thought I would have had a chance to see War Z this week but was busy with something else, would also probably watch Pacific Rim so stay tuned for a review!

To end, heres a music clip from youtube!

Movies : Monsters University

Movies : Monsters University

INTRODUCTION

In this time and age, whenever you see a movie like Despicable Me 2, or shows like Madagascar 3 or maybe even shows where there are clearly trilogies such as Twilight, Star wars, you would immediately feel the affinity and the need to see the show especially if you have seen the previous movie.

For those who do not know,

See this poster, guess which year it is, the answer will be posted all the way below.

But here is the relevant poster for this year!

And just to make things clear, this is the movie that we are reviewing today! And note that the first two characters at the front.. are the exact same characters on the top poster!

Storyline 3.5/5

The storyline starts out pretty strong, introducing the audience to the wonderful world of Monsters, their need to scare people and what gave the main character his motive in life. And they did it with the smaller version of the green eyed fella which was totally cute and a good start.

Then it moves on to introducing the university and their first day, and also the other characters and then the gist of this movie, the problems that they face in becoming SCARERS which is like what every other monster wants to be.

The score is pretty above average, because it is a pretty direct storyline although the ending might not be as happy as you would think. Nonetheless for the duration of the movie, the storyline is not draggy and it is pretty entertaining all the way through because of the many parallels it draws with the usual American University life.

Character 3.5/5

The movie does have quite a few additional characters besides the first 2 although it does get somewhat massive then the other groups of monsters come into play. However there is a bit too little done to try to differentiate our monsters from the other groups. I would say that they are distinct enough during the introduction, but after that they really could have made it a bit more fun.

The closer characters to the 2 main characters are fleshed out slightly more, but they could still be even more distinct with some fun twists or side stories. 

Here are all the chums

Cinematography 3.5/5

There are very nice top down shots of the monster world and this movie does a fun job of making good funny shots. There was also a short since of the real human world in the duration of the show which makes it pretty fun and is a good distraction from the monotony of the show.

Still it could have a bit more perspective shots that i believe a few other animations have done to improve the entertainment factor.

Music 3.5/5

Music is there, but not entirely memorable. None the less it does positively add to the movie itself which gives it slightly better then average points.

Spectacle 4/5

For this movie, I would like to add comedy to the genre because this movie is really good fun. It is also able to keep the interest up although not in the usual action movie sense. It is kind of like the first Harry potter movie in the monster world whereby the life of the new student is introduced and how the student comes to gain acceptance. There is also a bit of storyline weaving towards the end of the movie whereby the end of Monster University is weaved into the beginning of Monster INC which would entertain those people who saw the first movie!

Storyline : 3.5 (Pretty clear cut storyline with a clear aim at the end, but has some fun twists)

Characters : 3.5 (Many cute and fun characters, but could use a bit more fleshing out)

Cinematography : 3.5 (Above average shots with a unique real world section, can be improved)

Music : 3.5 (The standard music expected from a PIXAR animation)

Spectacle 4 (Has good entertainment value due to its comedic value)

Overall : 3.6 (It is good that this movie does not require you to be invested in Monster INC first and it also tries to reintroduce the monster world to the audience. However since this movie focuses on the university life and how a student gains acceptance, there is some similarity to many of the other movies which does not make it entirely distinct from the other shows besides the world it is in as the issues faced are similar. None the less, it is a worthwhile movie to bring the kids to for a weekday ticket as they would probably have quite a bit of family fun there.)

This movie also has to content with Despicable Me 2 for the intended audience which might cause people to compare and maybe like the movie more or less. 

Finally, to answer the question asked in the beginning, Monster INC was shown in the year 2001 which is like 12 years ago. What this means is that after seeing this movie, your family could perhaps be entertained by a rescreening (or fresh screening for kids who did not see the movie) of Monster INC. 

Please leave any comments if you have them, and i am planning to see WarZ and Despicable Me 2 in the near future. Cheers!

Hotels : Travelodge Garden City Hotel

Hotels : Travelodge Garden City Hotel

INTRODUCTION

During my trip to Australia, what made it interesting was that the intention was to do a bit of travelling by car, not to be entirely cooped up at the usual main tourist destination like Brisbane and Gold Coast, so i was provided an interesting experience as due to my trip itinerary, i had the chance to stay in out of the outskirt hotels. This hotel is situated in the suburb of Sunnybank, an area with a bit more Asians then usual.  When looking at the hotel map via Agoda, these hotels are those that are situated pretty far apart from the usual hotel areas.

Travelodge is the 2nd hotel icon from the right, just above the information box

So as you can see, the whole chunky hotel area is the Brisbane City area where Mantra on Queens is also inside, while Travelodge is really a highway away from the City area. So would this be a different experience from staying at a City Hotel? Most definitely! Read on to find out what I did in that area and whether this will suit your travelling interests!

DETAILS OF HOTEL

Name : Travelodge Garden City Hotel
Location : Upper Mount Gravatt QLD 4122, Australia (Considered to be in the Sunnybank Suburb)
Number of Stars : 4 stars (NOTE on Travelodge Garden City own webbie, its 3 stars)
Room of Review : Standard Queen
Highlights of Hotel : Free carpark, Satellite TV (And thats about it, at least when you look at the hotel itself)
Date of Review : June 2013

The entrance of the hotel

Interestingly, you can see that it has no usual amenities like swimming pools, spa and sauna, so does that mean that this hotel is not worth the stay? Well lets read on to find out more

Comfort 3/5

Here is how the room looks like as taken from their website and this is the one that we stayed in

Unfortunately, although i do have a picture of the room I stayed in, there are some elements of the picture that cannot be used such as a person sitting there. Will try not to make that mistake in the future. None the less the room floor area is pretty above average and everything looks neat and tidy.

Only problem is, although we got a queen room, the bed that we actually got was smaller beds placed beside each other. You might go on to say "Oh but the overall bed size is bigger!". That is true and should in fact be beneficial to the score until you realise that.... You can feel the separation of the beds. This is precisely the difference between a queen size and twin beds put together. The gap in the middle is sometimes not supported by both the twin beds and as a result it will be felt and might even slope in.

This might not be an issue for some, but if you were to stay for longer periods of time, I am sure that this fact will be bugging you ever so slightly when you lay down to sleep every night.

Air conditioning and heating however is pretty good and it meets the expectations of any hotel guest. It is however located above the door way and in plain sight which is a bit gaudy looking. None the less, it serves its function reasonably well.

Service 4/5

Checking in and out of the place is extremely simple. It was pretty fast, just needing to fill up some documents and we were on your way in. For the way out, its just a simple returning of the key.

I did make a phone call before i made it down to the hotel as I was curious if they could check me in earlier. They were unable to do so but stated that they had no problems keeping hold of my luggage which is good service. There is also reception staff all the way into the night so it should be a relatively safe place.

The reception was also good as they gave directions to how to walk to the nearby shopping centre. This shows that they could at least try to help you find something to do in a place slightly far off from the city.

When checking out, I asked the same question I asked the Mantra staff as to whether i could check out slightly later. They did say to me that they would need to stick to the fix timing, but after a while, they called back and gave us 30 minutes extra to prepare to leave. Pretty good to be somewhat flexible.

Overall, the impression of their staff is that they are pretty chirpy and cheerful, and this helps brighten up the atmosphere and makes it a more pleasant stay.

Amenities 3/5

Their Toilet!

For the room we got, there was no bath tub and generally all that you see over there is all there is to it. Towels and floor cloth is provided, along with soap and shampoo. I do think their shower design is pretty smart as this was the hotel where most of the water stays in the shower area. None the less its a average shower but there is hot water and all that.

Oven and others.. actually thats all about it

There is a microwave oven and other cutlery provided as in many of these Australian hotels. Their wardrobe is kinda just open, and ironing board and iron are all provided. These hotels are probably targeting to those on business and would spend not as much time in the room. There is a large desk that is helpful for doing work too.

On the whole hotel side however, there is nothing really impressive. There is a restaurant that is probably for those who want breakfast. There is no pool for extra activity choices and there really is nothing else around in this hotel. What else is there to do? It will be covered in the location criteria. For amenities however, this is about all that you have.

Location 3.5/5

Of all the outskirt hotels, I would have to say, this hotel is probably the best price for location. This hotel is right behind or beside a whole shopping center. This takes care of all the entertainment elements should you not be interested in taking a long drive up to other places or to Brisbane area. It seems to be near the bus station also which kind of allows public transport to be used.

It does have free parking also but I would say that it will be quite a feat to try to get to this place from the airport, by using public transport in the first place. Hence, the moment you bring a car there, you probably could use it to get into Brisbane city whereby you do need to contend with finding parking places and paying for them if needed.

There are however, many nearby shopping centers nearer to this area that serves Sunnybank residents that you could choose to visit.


Cost Efficiency 2.5/5

At a price of SGD 140+ per night, this is perhaps the most costly room of my entire trip when looking at cost efficiency. Mantra at queens is 10 dollars more per night, but saves on your car prices and transport costs in terms of fuel and public transport as you are able to walk to places. For Travelodge, you need to have a car none the less to really go around as 1 big shopping center is  useful for a day or even for your whole trip worth of food choices, but its not a place for things to do. Also looking at amenities, it is not very well equipped as it lacks a bathtub and swimming pool or fitness corners.

As stated on their website however, this is probably more intended for business users and perhaps big groups that need many rooms and can easily afford a bus service to pick them and bring them into Brisbane city. Or for people who dont need to stay in the city as they probably only wanna spend on day there, and move on to other places for entertainment such as the theme parks. Granted the theme parks are closer to Travelodge then any other hotel in Brisbane due to their further South location, but in those cases, you should have been staying in Gold Coast instead.

Comfort : 3 (You will be able to sleep here, its cosy, but it can really be better)
Service : 4 (The people are nice, they seem to like their job and serving people)
Amenities : 3 (Its the bare minimal for someone who will need to stay in the room for a while such as for business conferences, not for enjoyment though)
Location : 3.5 (You can have things to do, and for the usual tourist spots its just a drive away, just slightly more hassle)
Cost Efficiency : 2.5 (The price is pretty steep for this place, I am not entirely sure why)

Overall : 3.2  (It is quite interesting to consider who are the people who would find a need to stay in this area, but if you do need to stay here, this is a fair choice. There are a few more motels in the vicinity that are about 10 dollars more or less so you probably cannot get that much better deal elsewhere. That being said, this place might still be preferable cause at least there is a shopping center that is walking distance away. If you were to stay here, you will still be able to get a good night sleep, but that's about all that you should really expect. Nonetheless, I am appreciative of the fact that due to my needs to attend an event in the vicinity, I was glad of the presence of Travelodge Garden City Hotel.)

If you stayed here, feel free to leave a comment too!


AGODA review below.

Travelodge was a place that we booked because we had to attend some event in Sunnybank area. When I was scouting the other possible areas in the Sunnybank suburbs, I settled on Travelodge because unlike all the other hotels, this is the hotel with direct access via walking to a shopping center. This is its one biggest attractive point that sets it aside from other places. 

The hotel itself has pretty friendly staff with a fast check in and out. Parking is free and safe and there are a few other places that one can go for a short shopping trip within driving distance. You could even go down to Brisbane City for a day or two via car although parking would be the only issue. 

Unfortunately, it is pretty above average priced and at those prices, you could get a hotel in Brisbane area itself. The queen bed that was given to us was not really a single bed, but two twin beds together and it was felt when sleeping. All in all, its an alright place to stay should you need a place to lodge in Sunnybank!