Movies: Transformer 4 Age of Extinction

Movies: Transformer 4 Age of Extinction

Was able to catch this blockbuster movie on the 2nd day of release and boy it was packed all the way to the first row!

It's those kind of movie like x men or spiderman that has had many previous movies before and is probably a must see just because you have seen the previous movies. For some people it's a must see because we played with the toys when we were young. Also a safe type of movie being in the action genre that allows it to appeal to the large population.

Ah dinosaurs, the caveman form of transport

Did it live up to the hype though? Read on to find out more.

Storyline 3/5

The movie, if you checked is a whopping 160 minutes long give or take a few minutes. That's more then 2 hours that you are going to spend in the theater. So is the storyline able to remain enthralling?

In all honesty, the story does stay fresh as in many new things are added to the story as time goes by. However there is very little obvious linkages to why this thing that happened previously led to the things that is happening in the current section of the movie. To put it shortly, you can try paying alot of attention to the movie and what the characters are saying but you will still find yourself confused ever so often at why things ended up this way.

The storyline is also strange in that there are many instances where something has happened such as more bots joining the fight, but then you realize that Hey they could really have done this earlier instead. Alot of things that happen are quite unbelievable or unrealistic and you feel that the writers made things this way just so that you could have a longer story. There was also a lot of unnecessary actions that were taken by the humans that in every angle of analysis is totally silly and dumb.

One clear cut example if you see the movie is, if your bots can fly, why do you still bother driving around from one place to another? And what happened to the bomb? Confused!

Character 3.5/5

Additional 0.5 points purely because there was the other bunch of transformers that was added to the movie that at least significantly heightened the entertainment value.

They introduced new main human characters to this movie as well as new bots and did try to give them some distinct personalities which was good. But overall they did not have enough screen time despite the 2 hour plus movie time to truly make an impact. It's really just a matter of creating a unique sequence for them but it was a wasted opportunity there.

Some familiar bad guys did come back with friends but bad guy friends especially didn't have any extra emphasis on scenes to make them special enough. You will realize during the movie that some characters just disappear and you don't notice till they reappear after awhile.

All in all, a lot of potential wasted type of movie.

Cinematography 3.5/5

As in typical action movies it had above average Cinematography with plenty of slow mo shots and plenty of explosions. But similar to the character section there is really alot more unused opportunity to really make the movie stand out and I would say that the action scenes were not long enough and can really be made more epic.

Music 3.5/5

Music was good in keeping the atmosphere up and the feeling of all the explosions. Nothing particularly unique in the way the music was used though.

Spectacle 3/5

Sadly, when looking from a summative view, this movie tried to tell too much story at the risk of action sequences, and yet storyline was too broad to be able to keep it coherent and flowing well enough. Hence its like a action movie with not enough action and with a rather confusing or unconvincing story.

They should have tried to tell less and shift the focus to better action scenes and focus more on what the other newly introduced bots could do. Too many new characters but too little time to make them endearing to the audience.

Overall

Storyline: 3 (At times it was hard to follow. At times it did not make sense either. Still, at least it can be considered interesting)
Character: 3.5 (So many new bots.. too little time to emphasize on them... and at times you forget about many of the bots)
Cinematography: 3.5 (Good action sequences, not particularly exceptional though)
Music: 3.5 (Music was there lending to impact and atmosphere)
Spectacle: 3 (Did not manage to intrigue or excel in both storyline nor action sequence when it clearly has a lot of potential to do so.)

Overall:  3.3 (If you are an action flick lover with not too over analyzing personality on storyline and details, this will be a fine movie for you given its exceptional playtime. If you like good and coherent storylines and your friends ask you to see this movie, keep reminding yourself... "I like bots and explosions and boomboom pewpew!". If you plan on missing this movie, don't worry about it cause it is probably a good home movie type. Just manage your expectations and remind yourself its a fair movie given its length of time.

Disagree with this review? Thought the story was fine? Comment here and I can tell you more stuff that is just strange and unnessary!

Food: Empire State Restaurant

Food: Empire State Restaurant

Good day to all, heres the first of a few food reviews that I have backed logged up to this day. This food review is on this western/italian cuisine type of food called Empire State Restaurant.Ate this at the Woodlands Branch and I am sure there are a few branches over the country that you can check out at the website below. Here is their icon or logo or something.

So is this place worth the visit? Read on to find out!

Food 2.5/5

This place is supposed to be famous for their empire burger which is pictured here

Its a giant burger that obviously will be too much for our Asian appetites but nonetheless at 22++ SGD if you are really hungry you probably can eat it. I didn't order this unfortunately so my food review will be based on what else i managed to eat which is pictured below.

Looks huge eh! Well its not as big as the burger

For me I ordered the next best choice which according the name, should also be one of their signature dishes cause its the EMPIRE HD for Hotdog! not High Def...

Look at it and it really looks very nice and cheesy but look closely you will realise that its only one portion that was with the cheese. The bacon is fine, texture and all but all in all the whole dish wasn't very special. There was no extremely strong taste of the sauce or anything and the fries obviously was just plain. The hotdog itself at best, just felt like another hot dog. Its not like those from that hotdog fast food joint with its RIPPERS and stuff. Nope, its merely just a hotdog.

Cheesy Penne

The other dish that we chose was supposed to be like some very cheesy type of penne thingy. That was what the name of the dish was supposed to be.. like 3 cheese pasta or cheesy pasta or something. Unfortunately at best, I would say that the dish didnt live up to its name. Worse of all, the pasta sauce was actually considered watery. Like someone put in sauce and added a bit too much water to it. Wasn't satisfying and at best it is just barely passable.

Fries with 4 sauces?

This was where it was totally sad for us. We ordered a fries that was suppose to come with various sauces. In the end, there was one mayonaise like sauce, another holder with chopped up tomatoes, another with olives and one more with a grand sum of 2 and a half piece of a pickle. Yep.. How is this supposed to work? ITs not a sauce is it? or is there some method to eat that I dont really know? Its probably that.. but overall, its not tasty at all... it might have been slightly cheesy but I really didnt know how those other 3 holders are sauces. The Mayo i still understand though...

Atmosphere 3/5

Atmosphere was average. It was the type of open seating whereby the seats are inside the shopping centre themselves. That means that this shop doesn't have an entrance per say and shoppers can just walk through the two eating areas as there is a walking path right in the center. Of course it has air-con and all that and I guess its just some style but all in all, there are better ways to do it.

Also given the two distinct areas belonging to the shop, the staff may sometimes be pretty hard to call over. I guess you could still sit there and buy their desserts and sit and talk but there are other choices like The Coffee Bean etc. The staff as a whole, are alright but it is obvious that they are slightly understaffed during the time we were there.

Price 3/5

Here is the receipt and the amount we spent for two people. Oh look... water is chargeable... Not sure why there is a need to charge for water in Singapore.. you can count it under service charge seriously.

Its not expensive per say, but its not really worth it. The fries for $5.90 was quite a bit and we actually didn't manage to finish everything. But overall I would say that quality to food taste, does not really match.

Accessibility 4/5

Perhaps the only good point of this eatery, its totally near the woodlands MRT station and also didn't have too many customers which means you can probably get a seat with no problems. But its most likely because the food is not distinct enough and tasty enough to attract the crowd. Still, it works in their favour...

Overall

Food: 2.5 (Overall,  its just passable. You won't be put off, but you will really expect more)
Atmosphere: 3 (Average atmosphere, you will feel that it can be improved)
Price: 3 (Charging for water? Not entirely cheap either for the quality)
Accessibility: 4 (Good location, easy to get to, probably won't have a queue so you can start your dinner faster)

Overall: 3.125 (Surprisingly the score is above 3. I would say that you could choose this place if you really wanted western food or italian food and you don't want to queue and just want to get dinner over and done with. Yea that would be the best explanation for this place at this point of time. Eat there once and see for yourself and if its ok type of food, then you can come more often. For me though, not entirely impressed and probably won't revisit unless there is a strong impetus.)

Here is its website http://empirestate.com.sg/ in case you want to try it out. Maybe try out some other dishes and tell me if it is better...

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!

Movies: Edge Of Tomorrow

Movies: Edge Of Tomorrow

Movies concerning time and going both into the future and the past have been popping up in both the big and small screens for a while. Some TV series includes Heroes with its time travelling hero, and the present series Continuum with the female lead being thrown back in time against her will. On the large screen we have the very recent X-men - Heroes of Future Past and perhaps the more significant time travelling movie that is similar to Edge of Tomorrow would be Groundhog Day which was a comedy with the same time travelling component.

A friend of mine told me that this movie is like a how a first person shooter works. Which is you go attempt the game map, die, respawn and try again. And in many cases, this is the what the movie is about. So for those who haven't caught the trailer or seen the poster, here it is!

The two heroes of the movie!

So how did this movie perform? Read more the find out here!

Storyline 4/5

The way the story is told in this movie is actually pretty creative. Of course the underlying principle is in the end, the good guys will win, but what happens during the entire process is kept interesting my the numerous twists and focus points in each of the attempts that the main character makes. It even shows what happens if the main character stops trying and tries to run which is a pretty good representation of what we would possibly have tried out should this have happened to us.

The source of this time restarting ability is also spelt out in the movie and hence tries to be a bit more science fiction then fantasy and it also highlights why this ability is present in the first place which gives a very complete picture of the movie.

Overall, everything is pretty believable until the very end. The ending is pretty strange and didn't really feel continuous from the whole movie, seeming more like a method to just end on a happy note. If you see the movie you will know what I am saying.

Overall, the story is believable, compelling and interesting. However, being strong on storyline, you will probably need to use a bit more brain power during the movie to understand why some things happen and if you miss it you will lose a bit of appreciation of the concept of the movie such as why at a point of time in the movie, he cannot die and respawn anymore. So keep your ears sharp during the movie!!


Character 4/5

Character development in this movie is done in a very interesting way because of the ability to repeat things again and again and hence reveal stuff about the characters over time. Of course the main character clearly grows throughout the movie from a non fighter to a soldier that looks like he has some cheat code because he knows where the enemies are before they come out! Its just like how some people play their shooting games in the arcade for the 50th time! Same as those who play those music taptap games also! All a mater of practice and alot of money and free time.

Nonetheless, the characters that are on the posters are of course fleshed out pretty well and believable, but there are some other supporting characters that are clearly just there for support value and nothing else so they are pretty basic in back story. In fact, there was one asian character who suddenly appeared in one of the more important scenes in the movie and I didnt even realise he was there in the first place and how he ended up in the heli. See the movie and tell me if you know which asian guy i am talking about!

Nonetheless, this is no X-men with long extended back stories but just a one off movie that only has the time to at best focus on the two mai characters!


Cinematography 4/5

Cinematography was good! When it was action scenes it is very well shot, and there are alot of good shots and timings during the movie to add extra entertainment and even comedic value to the movie. It was very creatively done and you will enjoy the way the movie was shot.

Still, the movie is not focus on epic battles between man and machine so don't get that wrong or expect that though. Its more of small group action movie.


Music 3/5

Music was not impressive and I am probably just guessing that it was there, but as far as the experience go, I didn't really notice any additional value from the music itself.


Spectacle 4/5

Realistically speaking this movie is a bit more on story line then action to be honest. There is no particular strong actions scenes that emphasized how the humans were fighting with the aliens. Its more or less meet monster, live or die, and try again next time. Very clear cut with little extended fighting scenes.

Story line was also slightly more emphasized on to keep the story together and tell the audeince at which stage this guy is currently. Of course when you see the current timeline, the audience is kept unaware whether this is the first time the guy is in this scenario or is it the 100th time. This keeps the audience intrigued. Might have been talking a tad bit too much towards the middle of the movie but overall it did a above average job especially to keep the many aspects of this sci fi movie coherent!


Overall

Storyline: 4 (Good storyline, kept interesting by the way the director chose the timelines)
Character: 4 (Main focus was on the two characters and all supporting characters are nothing more then just supporting, could have been any other person)
Cinematography: 4 (Good shots but it was not a epic fighting movie as opposed to small group fighting movie)
Music: 3 (It probably was there, but didn't have too much effect on the movie)
Spectacle: 4 (Overall, a story line focused movie with good action elements, not the best in its arena but is definitely an above average job)

Overall: 3.8 (This score indicates that its a movie that you can see without regrets especially if you are a fan of the action and storyline genre. However, hard core action lovers or hard core storyline critics will not be totally appeased but it is really catering to the main bulk of audiences. Told in a very entertaining ways with a good mix of comedic aspects and action sequences. A good way to spend 2 hours of your time if you don't have anything significant to keep yourself entertained or busy)

Saw the movie? Missed out important components and didnt understand why certain things happened or was done? You can ask here if you are still confused and I still remember.

Movies: Maleficent

Movies: Maleficent

Another movie that I managed to catch quite soon after its release! A movie whose trailer you should have seen pretty often if you are a movie goer. If not here is the link to the creepy movie trailer.

Creepy isn't it! Yea.. its amazing how Angelina Jolie has such big lips O.o! Did you recognize the song? Here's the happy version

Ok enough of joking, this movie is retelling of the classic movie from disney a long time ago which is the story of sleeping beauty. That means that there is no dwarfs (that's snow white) or woman fighting in china (that's mulan) or fish woman ariel (that's the little mermaid) and there is also no pumpkin carriage and glass slipper (that's cinderella).

Yes, there are that many princesses so its good if you don't get mixed up. Elsa is from a different league though so there is probably no confusion there!

Anyway on to the review for this movie!

Here she is! Look at the lips!

Storyline 3.5/5

Its a pretty creative retelling of a story that some of us might have grown up with, and for those who didnt grow up with this, it would be interesting as their understanding of the traditional fairy tales are now going to be slightly different. None the less as far as the storyline goes, its pretty interesting right from the start till the end and most likely won't bore you to death.

Its not particularly fast paced and there is not too many giant twists in the movie aka, you probably will have an overall idea what is going to happen next as the movie progresses. Nonetheless the story has a good pace and does not have a really slow moment due to good injection of humor and interesting fillers.

Its however not fast paced and would probably be too slow for action lovers. In fact, this is not a pure action film so don't expect to see too much action. This is probably the problem here because the trailer showed some scenes that seem to indicate that there should be a bit more action then what is finally presented. 

Character 3.5/5

The character as played by Angelina Jolie is pretty realistic and real. She did a good job portraying Maleficent and expressing her inner most feelings. The other supporting characters have bit more minor roles but most remain distinct and somewhat endearing to the audience.

This movie is really told in a fairy tale spin which probably was meant to cater to the younger audience so you will not see people who are pure evil but rather people who are just grossly misunderstood. It overall keeps a rather surprisingly light hearted tone which may put off some people if they are expecting a pure evil witch.

Cinematography 4/5

Surprisingly for a non action film, the cinematography is actually pretty good with epic shots and good perspective shots.

There are also a lot of visual effects to emphasize the magical world they live in which adds good entertainment value to the movie.

Music 4/5

Music is well done in this movie and very prominent adding much immersion value to the audience. You will get more into the movie thanks to the good soundtrack.

Spectacle 3.5/5

This is probably a movie that emphasizes on storyline. However, if you are the kind of person who needs many twists and turns to keep the movie exciting, this movie might not be able to interest you fully. The action and epic scenes are fun and a welcome addition but none is really deeply emphasized in the movie so the hard core action lovers will not like this movie. I only highlighted this grouse purely because the trailer for this movie seems to be indicative of more action in the movie which was not what they did focus on.

In the end, I would say that it is a fun experience and somewhat interesting story line, but is not really anything out of the box.

Overall

Storyline: 3.5 (A different storyline that will intrigue you at the start, but as you start to understand what is the main thrust of the movie, there will be nothing astonishing)
Character: 3.5 (Good acting by Jolie and development of Maleficient character that adds a lot of entertainment and fun to the movie)
Cinematography: 4 (Good shots even during the action sequences but could have used more)
Music: 4 (Good accompanying music that added a lot of value to the movie)
Spectacle 3.5 (Its a interesting retelling of the story, there are some action elements but none of them are top of the class)

Overall: 3.7 (I would say this movie won't be a waste of your time especially if you have children who are interested in this story. But for adult level there is no big draw to see the movie unless you just want to see how a bad character can be portrayed in the different light. Not a show for those who want action though so take note of that.

In the end, if you were to be seeing it, just go there with the expectation of a retelling of a old fairy tale from a new perspective and that should be it. Don't expect anything else other then that or you will be disappointed. All other action scenes are just complimentary)

Will be going to see the next movie Edge of Tomorrow within the next week so if you want to wait for my review, just wait till then :) Cheers!