Accuracy of Death

I stepped into the cinema hall knowing nothing more than Takeshi Kaneshiro played the role of Death in this movie.
The movie opened with Kaneshiro attending a church funeral. He sat himself next to a cute little girl who immediately recognised that he is a shinigami, often refered to as the God of Death or in this case, the Grimm Reaper. When asked about a shinigami's role, Kaneshiro gently explained that a shinigami appears to people about to face an unexpected death. After determining if that person has fulfilled his purpose on earth, the shinigami will choose to either proceed with his death or suspend it. However, a shinigami will only attend a child's funeral as a courtesy since most children are usually not aware of what is really happening. Thus revealed, not really unexpectedly, that the little girl speaking to Kaneshiro is the deceased everyone in the church is mourning.

And with that introduction, the movie begins the first of three stories that make up the film. Kaneshiro's character uses the name "Chiba" when he is on the field. He would usually makes contact and interview "prospects" on their opinion on death and determine himself if the person has yet a purpose to be served by continuing living. Even though his dog companion revealed that Chiba usually choose to proceed, he tends to hold his decision till the last day, which was fortunate for one prospect, whose new purpose in lives was revealed only on the day she was meant to die.

Unsurprisingly, all three stories are connected to each other but it was done in quite an unspectacular way. With a title like "Accuracy of Death", I was actually expecting a slow but highly thought provoking notion on why death is necessary and important to the point that it can affect the course of history. The movie was slow but it was hardly thought provoking. In fact, the charm of the movie lies in its humour. The bulk of the humour however, lies in Chiba's taking in the literal meaning of the words people said, being totally clueless about the slang we used. This incited plenty of laughter but it didn't make sense since he is in constant communication with humans. Beside, one other shinigami who spoke with him didn't seems to have that problem. There is also an inconsistency in the second story when he is more suave and street smart and he even smoked. Maybe he picked it up over the years but in the last story, he is back to his old 'dumb' self.

The movie lack the sophistication I was expecting and the humour was nothing brilliant. Its comic timing however was good enough to draw plenty of laughs. The contents may failed to meet my expectation but I can't say I didn't enjoy the movie. After all, why so serious?

21

I am no genius but I kinda liked Mathematics. So when a movie comes out that centres on using Mathematics skills to win in Black Jack, I don't even bother who will be in it. I am just going to watch it.
Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is a Maths genius hoping to secure a scholarship to Harward Medical School as his USD8 perhour part time job simply isn't enough to pay for that education. That amount however, is still higher than what an average Malaysian is making on a full-time basis but enough about our country's economy.

As with all the geniuses depicted in any movie, Campbell doesn't has many friends, often only hanging out with two other people who though are pretty smart, are only half his genius and 1/3 his good look. These two friends and Campbell's mother are the only people present to celebrate his very tame 21st birthday. The birthday scene was a crucial one as they used the Fibonacci code to depicted the number 21 on the cake so audiences can see what geeky maths geniuses they are. That was when I realised this is going to be a mediocre movie.

Campbell's lives started to changed when he impressed his non-linear equation professor by explaining how eliminating a wrong option from a choice of three actually increased the probability of one of the remaining two to 66.66% being the correct option instead of just 50%. That is called variable changes.

I didn't get that either.

As it turned out, Professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) is looking exactly for someone of his genius as he is leading a team of clever students to win big money in Las Vegas via card counting. He was looking for a replacement for a key member who left the team for a job in Google, which is really funny if you received an email showing the office in Google. Everyone wants to work for them now.

Back to the story, honest Campbell does not wish to get involved but when his mother gave her hard-earned life saving to help pay for his Harvard education, he decided that Vegas is the only way to go. Campbell joined the team, which coincidently included Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth), the prettiest girl in campus whom he happened to has the hots for.

Campbell was determined to do this only until he raised enough money for Harvard but the question is, after he get a taste of the high life of easy wealth, can he really go back? Can a brilliant student making money from simple Maths skill still thinks about using his genius for the betterment of mankind? Would a CEO enjoying privileges paid for by the company opts to gives up that luxury to reduces expenditures? Will a politician with power to reform policy to suits his own personal interest chose to repents and steps down?

The answer is a dissolute no, unless someone makes them.

That someone comes in the form of security honcho, Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne) who quickly caught on to what Campbell can do. But he isn't as interested in Campbell as he is in Rosa, with whom he has an old grundge.

The movie has a decent story and characters, which is played well enough by its casts but everything about it is pretty run of the mill. It is a pretty standard fare of a hero using his gift for personal gains only to learn the wrongness of his action and turned over a new leaf. And audiences are taught a little lesson not to belittle those smarts geeks around us as we never know just what they may be capable of.

It is also interesting that the movie actually revealed how card counting works although I don't quite understand it. Maybe the instruction isn't complete but more probably is that I am just not smart enough to get it. There is also the phrase "Winner winner, Chicken dinner", uttered everytime a player got a Black Jack which meaning and significance escaped me but which I find catchy.

Here's a Mathematics question. Is it worth paying to watch this movie? I paid RM6 to watch this on Wednesday and I pretty much get my worth but RM10 for any other day just may noy be worth its fare. Now how is that for non linear equation?

Babylon AD

Well, I watched Babylon AD too. Given the critical review it received, I wouldnn't exactly say it sucks.

Vin Diesel is Toorop, a mercenary tasked with bringing a special and mysterious girl from a convent to the US of A. Come to think of it, I have no idea where on earth he was at the beginning of the movie.

The girl in question is Aurora (Melanie Thierry) and her constant companion Sister Rebeka (Michelle Yeoh). Aurora appeared to be very knowledgeable on many subject common and uncommon. She even knows how to operate a 30 years old submarine but she is also irritatingly emphathetic to the suffering of others. Other than that, put her in a singlet and a pair of shorts, let loose her hair and she is still pretty hot.

It became clear very soon that more than one faction wanted and needed her so Toorop's job isn't somuch of getting her to US safely than ensuring that she doesn't falls into the hand of the other faction. The question is who Aurora really is and why is she so important to so many people?

Compared to Death Race which I watched a week earlier, Babylon AD is more properly produced and tastefully directed but it still suffered from the things that don't make sense plaguing the movie.

The movie started right with the introduction of Toorop, his character and what he stands for. We were treated to a mildly exciting journey they made as Toorop tried to smuggle Aurora and Rebeka to the US. Along the way, the movie created the mystery of Aurora real identity.

But after creating the stage for what could be of biblical proportion, audiences were left with the tacky revelation of science experiment gone wrong (gone right?). And if Aurora is so important to everyone alive, then what exactly is Toorop fighting for?

As an action movie, it isn't so bad but ultimately has nothing fresh to offer. As a science fiction, its element is too weak and too brief. As a biblical fantasy, the mystery it successfully created in the beginning was ravaged by its sudden transition into science fiction toward the end of the movie. In the end, the villain was not properly dealt with and we could not see the relevance of certain incidents that took place. Maybe there is some kind of significance to the ending. Aurora did gave virgin birth to a pair of twin girls who were one black and one white but I certainly couldn't see the meaning.

I was prepared to defend the movie but such anti-climatic ending changed my mind. Too bad.

Death Race

I was planning to watch Babylon AD when Duncan told me Babylon sucked, watch Death Race instead.

OK...

I know Jason Statham was in it and though I thought he looked the part of a tough guy, I was never really a fan. Beside, the title and poster looked really cheesy and I expected the movie to be the same. But I watched it anyway.

Death Race is a very old school type of movie with an unlikely concept, a simple story and a small little twist to the plot. Done right, it can still be entertaining, provided one is willing to overlook all the holes that filled the entire movie. Holes that simply doesn't make sense.

It doesn't make sense that corporation can and would take over operation of correctional facility (they don't call it prison anymore).

It doesn't make sense that said corporation has authority to grant release order to its prisoners.

And it sure as hell doesn't make sense that in times of economic turmoil, so many people can actually afford paying to watch Death Race.

Still, I can see why such movie appealed to my buddy. Death Race is a sport broadcasted by aforementioned corporation from one of the prison it controls. Participated by its prisoners, the race promised anyone who wins the race 5 times release and freedom. But this isn't just a simple race to the finish line. Each car is heavily fortified and even more heavily armed. Driving over a lighted icon of sword or shield placed along the track will activate either the offensive or defensive system of the car. And it's not exactly a good idea to take the lead right from the start as that would means others can fire at you while you cannot fire at them. You don't just lost a race, you can literally die in one.

Wow! The whole idea is just like one big video game.

In the middle of round 2, the warden even introduced a new secret weapon called the Dreadnaught, presumably meaning "Dreadful Juggernaut". As the name might suggests, it is a super heavy vehicle that is both destructive and near indestructible.

Question. If the Death Race show is as popular as implied in the movie, why would they released something so powerful it can potentially kill every racers in Death Race and in effect, killing off the show along with them? And how does every vehicle, regardless of size and shape able to maintain similar speed to each other?

Ahh... more holes that just don't make sense.

Obviously I have many problem with its realism, or lack of it. But if I were to judge this movie solely on its entertaining value, then it's not so bad. Fast cars that are armoured and fire machine guns and missiles. Race sport that plays like a video game. Hot babes in tight clothing who know about cars. Yeah.. a guy could like a movie like this. Just don't worry about the things that doesn't make sense.

The "Cloned" Wars

Am I a big fan of Star Wars? Not exactly.

Do I like Star Wars? I guess I do to a certain extend. Having said that, I sure wouldn't mind getting Stormtrooper action figures for my birthday in October. Ahem. I always liked the Troopers figure because they looked like they are right out of the movie. Unlike the human figure, which likeliness is more difficult to capture.

Anyway, I just saw Star Wars- The Clone War, which was supposedly a missing episode between Part II Attack of the Clones (goodness, what a very lame name) and Part III Revenge of the Sith. Actually, I understand the transition just fine without having to watch this latest installment but I guess I just want to.

In a nutshell, the Galactic Republic with the help of the Jedi are in a war with the Separatist led by Count Dooku. The Separatists fought with their AI driven droids while the Republic have in their disposal the clone soldier, which, having a brain is is a more inteligent fighter. In the word from the movie, the war has kept the Jedi busy fighting the war with noone keeping the peace. But when crime lord Jabba the Hutt's son was kidnapped (since when he has one?), the Republic tried to win his favour by rescueing him. An endeavor that the Count would stop at nothing to sabotage.

The story was predictable and boring. The AI of the droids have to be seen to be believed. So they are not as intelligent as a live soldier but do they have to be portrayed as downright stupid? That was what they were in the movie. Very very stupid goons which are more funny than deadly. Basically there wasn't much of any developement going on here, characters or plot wise, just a bunch of things happening. The film is ultimately an action film but even that wasn't very exciting. The light sabre duel, all of them, are hardly inspired. The duels in the original trilogy were very suspenseful while the later prequel presented a very martial art oriented chereography. In The Clone Wars, it's just a bunch of people swinging their lightsabre and pushing things away with the force every once in a while. Very unimaginative. And I don't see why Lord Dooku has to let Anakin go near the end of the movie.

So the story sucks, how about the presentation? This film is actually in digital animation. I recognised the style from the Clone Wars animated series although they went one atep further and made this in 3-D. The style worked well enough as I am just glad they did not try to go the realistic approach. But while we were on the subject of animation, I must say I get more kick out of watching a single episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles than this movie. Really.. this probably goes straight to DVD in the States (I dunno, I didn't check).

So should anyone watch this movie? Actually the Troopers are cool. As are most of their cannons and tanks and ship fighters and stuffs.

Only the fans.

All I want is to hold her hand..

In a documentary I saw a long time ago, a simple experiment was carried out where scientists observed the growth of bacteria in a petri dish. Yet, despite the condusive environment created for them, their growth stopped even before the air and nutrients and whatever provided to them is used up. This is because they already created much wastes in the environment that it has became inhabitable.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is what will happen to earth in the future when humans have created so much wastes on the planet that it can no longer support lives. And that is the world Wall-E lived in. The humans has moved out of earth into space, leaving only a troop of automated robots to clean up the mess for their eventual return.

In the biginning of the movie, all these Wall-E has already broken down, leaving only a single unit to complete the task.There was already towers and towers of compacted trash but little Wall-E still has a long way to go.

Fortunately, his solitude hasn't yet bore him to death (or total breakdown) yet as he has a good and loyal friend in the form of a cockroach. Beside that, Wall-E also developed a hobby of collecting special items from the mountains of trash that surrounded him. It is also from here that he keeps himself going as he salvaged parts from broken down units of Wall-E. Come to think of it, that is probably how his hobby got started and how his personality grows. Anyhow, anyone noticed the resemblance to Stephen Chow's recent"CJ7"? Wasn't there also a cute little hero there who can fix stuffs and a man who collected "treasures" from the junkyard? Or am I thinking too much?

Anyway, if anyone noticed I was refering Wall-E in a masculine term, that is because this is a love story. After 700 years of doing what he was built for, a space ship from Axiom, a huge mothership city where the humans now lives, arrived on earth to dispatched a probe to determine earth ability to support lives. This probe, named Eve was obviously a female, although I don't understand the reason of assigning gender to robots, and she was sleek, aerodynamic and squeky clean, in stark contrast to the worn out and blocky Wall-E. They were two world apart, like a princess and a pauper. Like Charlize Theron and Danny Devito. Or Michelle Reis and Eric Tsang. Well, You get the picture.

Wall-E has a little idea of what romance is from old movies that he watched in his spare time but he just let his heart guide him along. Awww...

How good can a romance between two robots be, you asked? Well, have you ever meet a person who totally change your perception in lives and gave you new purpose? Ever just want to hold the hand of that special someone? If you ever have that feeling before, you will be able to relate to Wall-E because mechanical he may be but I can so feel his longing to just hold Eve's hand.

So Wall-E fell in love with Eve and tried but failed miserably to impress Eve until he saves her from a storm and took her to his home. She was actually quite impressed with erm.. what he does with his home. They became friends and much later in the movie, she fell for him too. Awww...

This little love story was just lovable but there was also a side story. What happened to the humans who abandoned earth 700 years ago. What has happened to them since and what have they become? Predictably, they returned to earth eventually and it was interesting how the story of how they continue their lives from then on was told during the closing credit through a series of art beginning with cave painting, followed by what appeared to be Egytian hieroglyph. It was the beginning of life anew on earth after all. They even followed that up with painting style of the Renaissane era, pointilism and the style employed by Van Gogh himself. Brilliant closure but that was another story. In the end, it is the romance between Wall-E and Eve that makes this movie.

A delightful movie and one I would categorize as a good date movie, especially at the beginning of a relationship. Wall-E is absolutely adorable. Beside his personality, the design team deserved credit for designing a look that appeared both cute and functional. If ever a robot was built to do what Wall-E does, I can definitely imagine it would looked like that.Ha ha.. Wall-E looked like a little boy with his schoolbag in this picture.

Oh.. as with all recent Pixar production, there was also a short story before the actual movie begins. Called Presto, it is a story of a magician and his magic hat and how his pet rabbit refused to cooperate with him on his tricks until he is fed. Very very funny. Some people are not aware of Pixar's choice to include a short animation as an openning and the worried lady next to me actually asked if she is in the screening of Wall-E. I don't blame her, I had the same reaction when I saw Rattatouile.

So go watch this film but if you saw the story of a magician instaed, don't worry. You are in the right theater.

The Fraternity

Did you know that the Fraternity almost prevented WW2 but their assasin failed to kill Hitler? Their following assignment was then the assasination of those people who would prevented the creation of the atom bomb which eventually led to the end of WW2.
But alas, that very creation led to many new modern problem..

Nah.. that was just my imagination talking.

Wanted

It seems not many people were aware that the movie Wanted was actually based on a comic book. The concept for the book was that there were really super powered beings n the world and what they chose to do with these power was to use these powers for their own benefits. In short, absolute power corrupts absolute.


Wesley Gibson was a loser in every sense, until he met a woman named Fox who told him his father was in fact a super assasin with the Fraternity who was just killed not too long ago. Wesley was promptly invited to take over his place. He learnt then that superheroes did exist but were wiped out when every super villains in the world decided to team up. Following that, one of them with reality altering power proceeded to also wiped out from every living memories these heroes. I would have prefer a more grounded story of these supervillains corrupted lifestyle but I thought the addition of the hitory and other alternate universe where those heroes still exist to be far-fetched. What most readers enjoyed most from the book is the extreme attitude. Wesley went from being a loser to smug confidence. He is not afraid to do anything because the Fraternity has his ass covered. Consequences are a thing of the past.

Was the movie true to the book?

Well, they have Wesley (James McAvoy) the loser and Fox (Angelina Jolie) the hottie. They have the Ikea table and Wesley's girlfriend having an affair on it. They have the shoot the wings off the flying flies test and they have the beat the face up training session. Beyond that everything else is different.

The comic is about owning superhuman ability and abusing the power to do anything and own everything desired without care of consequences. In the end, though Wesley was the lesser of the evil compared to his enemy, he was still a criminal. And he wins and own everything in the end. The moral of the story was crimes pays. Obviously Hollywood cannot make a movie with that kind of message so they made a few changes.

Wesley's father was a super assasin. Yes, and he has in his blood to become one himself. But these assasins were not just out to make a profit from their ability. They belong to a secret society with a noble goal of kill one to save a thousand.

Centuries ago, a group of weavers found a secret language in the cloth they weaved. Calling it the Looms of Fate, they came to understand the code was intruction from Destiny for a specific person to be assasinated to prevented certain tragedy. These assasins eventually evolved to what they are in the present days, able to use adrenaline to increase their speed, strength, awareness, and other skills. They were also able to shoot with uncanny sharpness and even bent the bullets from their guns. The man introduced in the beginning of the film as Wesley's father was shot by a fellow Fraternity's assasin with a sniper rifle from two whole city blocks away! Imagine that.

Basically the movie merely took the basic characters and setting from the comics and changed everything else. What the heck? Why did they do that? I wasn't disappointed but I thought the concept of the Fraternity presented was awesome and deserving of its own mythology. Why do they need to use the comic reference? They should just released that as its own movie. After which they can tells story of the Fraternity in the medieval age and other eras in history. Heck, they can claimed the Fraternity assasinate JFK. The concept was awesome and the potential limitless. It would be bigger than Star Wars.

Was it obvious that I enjoyed the movie? You bet I did. The directing was very stylish, from the art direction to the action. I must admit though that the more creative actions all appeared in the beginning while those toward the end were less spetacular, although still awesome all the same. And the movie shows what they means when Sloan, played by Morgan Freeman, said creating the orchestra symphony with guns. Watch that out in the start of Wesley vs everybody in the Fraternity at the end of the movie. There was something else they adapted from the comic book as Wesley found out later the story of his father's death was not entirely true. Neat twist, even better than the one in the comic.

The Darkest Knight

If not for the tragedy that befell the actor, I would have yelled,"Heath Ledger lives!"
His portrayal as the Batman's lunatic archnemesis was absolutely captiviting.

The director who also brought us the brilliant "The Prestige" returned with his second installment of Batman. Christopher Nolan has chose to named the sequel The Dark Knight, after one of Batman's more famous moniker.

I had always assumed that the Dark Knight was simply a fancy name, since the Batman is a hero who wages war against crime and he usually operates in the dark of the night. The movie revealed a greater significance behind that name.

Post the first film, Batman Begins, our hero continued his war on crime. Two new and important characters entered Gotham City. First is a lunatic criminal in clown make up with a dangerous trait. The Joker has absolutely no fear of consequences.

The second is Gotham new hero, a righteous and charming man who is also the District Attorney. Harvey Dent is determined to bring the city criminals to justice legally and was later refered to at the end of the movie as The White Knight.

Ah... see the contrasting connection now to the Batman's Dark Knight?

Ledger's Joker may not dominate the film but he certainly steals the limelight. This Joker is not like the Joker in the comic book, whose fall into some chemical substance distorted his face into a permanent smiling facade. This Joker is just a man, though a mad one at that, who painted his face white, with a permanent smile painted on his face in red. This Joker is more gritty, and almost real.

This Joker, in my opinion is the star of the show. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe he has even more screen time than Batman himself, didn't he? The strength was in his personality and Ledger performance is Oscar worthy. While Bale is great as Batman, he is more often than not behind a mask and I don't quite fancy the growling voice he used as Batman. Only time I saw a stellar performance behind a mask is Edward Norton's portrayal of King Baldwin in Kingdom of Heaven. The contrasting personality of these two characters taking their battle from mere physical to a mental level with Batman, though more highly skilled in combat, finding that he is unable to intimidates the Joker as he did the other common criminal while the Joker takes full advantage Batman's refusal to bulged from his morality aganst him.

Comparison to Jack Nicholson's Joker in the Tim Burton helmed Batman is inevitable but I felt such comparison is unfair. Burton has created a world very much similar to the version presented in the comic book and he was lauded for doing that successfully. His Joker is maniacal to the point of being comical with a penchant for the grandeur and Nicholson played that lunacy to perfection. What Nolan required from Ledger was very much different as the Joker here is much darker with a twisted plan for Gotham City which he executed with deadly precision.

Nolan has brought to the movie an unprecedented level of realism never seen before in a superhero movie. The characters were rich and the motives each have for doing what they do is believable. The script, even Joker's line is unpretentious and at times, provoking. And though the idea behind the surveillance technology employed by the Batman is mind-boogling, it was not inplausible. I can imagine the US military already working on that technology, assuming they haven't already own it.

In one hand, it is hardly common for a billionaire to dons tights to battle crime. On another hand, it was not too fantastic that the logic behind it can be immediately dismissed. This is Nolan at his best, capturing many small moments of brilliance and packaging them into one breathtaking piece of orchestra.

Likewise, the Joker appeared to have his small moments of victory but just when it seems Batman had him beaten, he bounced right back to take over the city. Only then did everyone sees the true extend of the plan he has for Batman and the city. The final hour of the movie is most suspenseful and unpredictable and though the Batman out maneuvre him in the end, he never really did outwitted the Joker. The Batman may won the war but the costs from the earlier battles lost are too great while the Joker never really lose anything. It's true that although Batman has foes with more powerful ability than the Joker, none was as dangerous as a man who is simply, mad.

Nolan's realistic approach was a fresh change to the superheroes franchises but seeing that the movies were planned as a trilogy, who will trade punches with Batman next? Considering the style employed here, we can safely rule out any characters with superpower although who to say that Nolan can't come up with a realistic version of such foes? It woould certainly be interesting to see his version of the Penguin. I am almost certain we will see Catwoman in an ambiguous role, as she already did in the existing Batman mythology. But who will be the main villain? And after Ledger's excellent portrayal as the Joker, who else is deserving enough to challenge the Batman in the final installment?

Today..

TODAY I visited NZX Commercial Centre for the first time. It was nice but not yet very exciting. When the Street in The Curve just started, the place was still quite empty but I could see that it will grow very quickly and I was right. Too bad I can't say the same for NZX. It has potential but I think it will take a bit longer than The Curve before it really prosper.

TODAY for dinner, I had Big Apple Donuts.Shared the doughnuts with my sister with each of us having half a piece, starting with,
Mango Tango, which is sweet but really, I can't taste the mango at all. The doughnut itself was pretty normal, unlike the first time I sinked my teeth into Dunkin Donut which was really fresh and soft yet bouncy. That was then, now there is nothing special about Dunkin either.
Iceberg, which has very nice white sugary powder on top, which I think is glucose powder. The filling is supposed to be vanilla and again, I could not taste that.
Almond, which nickname I forgot but it has almond taste since it contain real pieces of almonds.
Pink Panther which is sweet and actually has a very strong strawberry flavour but unfortunately it also tasted very artificial.
Alien, which is basically chocolate topped and chocolate filled. Quite Ok but it would be cool if the doughnut has some small cavites on top for the filling to oozes out as we bite on it. Hey, they called it Alien after all.
Chocoholic, which is also chocolate topped and chocolate filled.
What I enjoyed the most was actually those white sugar ontop the Iceberg. Everything is so sweet they can't be healthy for you. And to think I declared to Sylviena that the next time she sees me, I would have lost my tummy. Tough.

TODAY I attempted unsuccessfully to finish a comprehensive full review of The Dark Knight which I hoped to watch again this Wednesday but even though I logged in at only 2 minutes past midnight, the tickets are all already fully booked.

TODAY, NTV7 screwed up its schedule AGAIN and I never found out if they screened The Celebrity Apprentice earlier than planned, later or not at all. This station got their schedule so messed up so often it almost seems deliberate. Sure, it was an outdated series and I already know Piers Morgan will win but what was the saying again?
"It was not the destination but the Journey."
It reminded me of how they used to screwed up the airing of Survivors back then. They have the show only a few days later than the airing in US but the show was always aired 10 minutes late. And since it is unacceptable for the midnight news to be late, the show will break for the news before resuming the final 10 minutes of the episode. Survivors didn't lost its fanbase in Malaysia because the show was getting boring (well alittle of that too) but because of the anticlimatic ways that NTV7 handled the show. I was just glad they didn't messed up last week when the annoying Omarosa was fired. If they did, I would stop watching NTV7. I probably should anyway. Well, at least after they air my episode in Deal or No Deal anyway.

The Dark Knight

I am absolutely speechless and I meant it quite literally.

When the credit for the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight rolled out, I could only go wow, then I go wow again. I must have gone wow close to 10 times but I just don't know what to say.

The movie has everything - action, science fiction, romance, tragedy etc. Director Christopher Nolan is the William Shakespeare of our times. Never before have I had such high expectation of the movie and still have that expectation surpassed by such great margin. A definite 5-stars rating and a full review soon.

Hancock

I actually wrote about the Beauty and the Beast Broadway Musical I just watched last week but misplaced the draft. I am too lazy to rewrite that now so I am just gonna wait and see if the draft will magically reappear.

For now, I am just gonna write a review on Hancock, currently the last movie I saw. And I realised of late, I was giving away too much of the storyline in my review. I have been an avid movie-goer for a long time and of all people, I should know what may be revealed and what may not. It wasn't always like this though as I remembered vividly how I struggle from revealing the shocking ending when I wrote the review for The Prestige.

So here goes. Will Smith is John Hancock, the world's only superhero who has chosen Los Angeles as his base of operation. Despite his role in fighting crime, he wasn't appreciated as he tended to be reckless with his power, causing maximum collateral damages everytime he made an appearance. That is until he saved the life of an image consultant who takes on trying to change his image. It wasn't a business decision. Jason Bateman's Ray Embrey is a really nice and honest guy who truly believe Hancock deserved better.

There was 2 trailers out for this movie. While the first one indicated an all out comedy, the second was more dramatic. I thought it was so funny when a new proper Hancock asked permission to touch a woman so he could save her. And deflecting a missile aimed at you with a wave of your hand is just so cool. It was this second trailer that got me to watch the movie.

The movie itself however, failed to live up to the expectation created by the trailer. Though the characters in the movie - Hancock by Smith, Ray by Bateman and Mary by Theron (well, I don't think I can not like any character played by Charlize Theron anyway) are all quite likable, the story turned out to be uninspired and predictable. And like I mentioned in The Hulk, I take my fight scene very seriously and there is noone in the movie to really give Hancock a hard time. Sure he lost some of his power near the end of the movie making him vulnerable but hey, when I see a superhero movie, I expect a superhero brawl. No matter how good a script you write, if a superhero did not have an enemy who can match him/her in physical prowess, you will not have an exciting finale. Period.

All the recent superhero movies that ever been successful had the protaganists' actual superpowered nemesises from the original comic books fighting them in the reel version. The presense of these supervillains may not necessary tranlated to success but their absense will almost certainly guarantee the film's failure.

This is not a bad movie. It just wasn't as good as I expected. And while it was fun while it last, it didn't give us much worth remembering.

Hulk Smash!!!

There was two reasons I wanted to watch the new Hulk movie. The first was because Edward Norton is Bruce Banner and I thought that casting was sheer genius. Why didn't I thought of that?

The second was the scene in the trailer where Bruce Banner actually stepped out of a flying helicopter, with the intentionof bringing out the Hulk in him through sheer extreme agitation, since he recently just managed to suppressed the Hulk.

Damn. That was taken straight out from the Ultimate version of the Hulk. In the comic, Banner had successfully suppressed the transformation into the Hulk through medical science. But when the military needed the Hulk to fight an unstopable enemy, they didn't think twice to just push Banner off the helicopter. The panic, fear and madness felt by Banner as he plummeted to the ground from so high up in the air was enough to turned him into the Hulk again just moment before he crashed with a loud thud. Brilliant. Only from the wildly creative mind of scribe Mark Millar.


Back to the movie. It opened with a quick introduction to the origin of the Hulk. In an experiment on radiation imunity went wrong, Banner became the Hulk, destroyed the lab and injured his lab partner and love interest Betty Ross. Also in the openning sequences are flashes of documents addressed to Stark Enterprise and Nick Fury from SHIELD, each making reference to famous characters in the Marvel Universe. So when the story takes us to the present, where Banner is in hiding in Brazil while looking for a cure with the help of a mysteriuos Mr Blue, I can't help but wondered if that was Dr Reed Richards aka Mr Fantastic himself from Fantastic Four. He turned out to be a Dr Samuel Stern, whom Banner must return to meet back in the States if he is to have any chance of ever suppressing the Hulk.

But even before that trip, the military already located his whereabouts and a band of highly trained soldiers, together with mercenary Emil Bronski was dispatched to capture him alive. Of course the Hulk came out and they didn't stand a chance.

By the time the Hulk and Emil meets for round two, the British mercenary has already been enhanced by the US Super Soldier programme and was already stronger and faster though not yet bigger. It was interesting seeing a soldier pitting his cunning and agility against the pure brute of the Hulk. However, his guns could not harm the Hulk and the battle ended with him broken and almost dead.

As Banner and Betty continued their run, Emil received a second dose of the Super Soldier serum to further even the odds. Earlier before that encounter, Bruce actually did looked for Betty the moment he returned to US but when he saw that she is already seeing someone else, he left her alone. After all, if you truly love someone, you let her go. If she comes back to you, she is yours. If not, it was never meant to be. Right?

Well, it was meant to be. Even after seeing Banner transformed into the Hulk, she continued to stay with him. There was even a King Kong moment where in a scene after Hulk rescued Betty, she woke up to an apparently nervous and clumsy Hulk. The giant just soften up at the mere sight of the woman he loves.

The story doesn't ends there as Banner finally met up with Dr Stern. The cure apparently worked and just as the Hulk was banished from Banner's system, the military busted in and took Banner away. Emil, disappointed to lost to the Hulk without a rematch forced Stern to use Banner's blood sample on him, turning him into the Abomination. His anatomy is a little distorted which is quite interesting. He also became bald and because he was not wearing extra large and loose pants like Banner, he loses that as well. His pants and hairs are not the only things he lost though as a full frontal view also revealed that he no longer has what is every mens' favourite piece of muscle. Ahem..

This is the scene I was waiting for. Unsure if the Hulk was truly suppressed, Banner needed a trauma at its highest level to try draw out the monster within, so he decided to throw himself out a flying helicopter. The Hulk emerged and they both clased like only Titans can. Noone was supposed to be physically stronger than the Hulk in the Marvel universe but the producer wanted to give him a real challenge. Not only is the Abomination stronger but he was also more well trained in close quarter combat as a soldier.

As an ardent movie fan who take the fight scene very seriuosly, I find it unacceptable that this version of Hulk was able to defeat the Abomination. What I would do differently if I were the director is to have them in a more primitive fist fight with the Abomination having the upper hand due to the skill he already have but with the Hulk keep coming back for more. Despite all his skill, Emil will finds that it was not enough to overwhelm the Hulk's brute strength. The Hulk would also not be the one using weapon but the Abomination will. And plenty of collateral damage from the fight.

The anatomy of the Hulk as presented in the CG was rather impressive. Take it from me that I do know abit on this subject since I draw a lot of muscle bound men. If they could retain a little resemblance of Norton to Hulk's face, that would be even better. The texture however, does not like like skin some of the times. And they move too fast. Big creatures like them could not possibly move with that kind of agility. Just look at Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong, especially the scene where he fought the 3 rexes. They are by no mean slow, but there was a certain weight in their movements that was more realistic. And that was an excellent fight scene. No need to smash cars into fists like gloves.

Other than that, I really have no other complain. The movie even managed to get abit emotional at times although I doubt anyone would actually shed a tear. There was some light humour that blended in very well like the purple pants that Betty bought for Banner. In the comic book, the Hulk is always wearing a torn purple pants. Then there is the time when Banner got his Brazilian wrong and told some rascals not to make him hungry because they won't like it when he is hungry. The movie also hinted on a possible new nemesis when we saw drops of Banner blood falling on Dr Stern's wounded forehead, causing it to swells.I didn't recognise the name but Stern must be the Leader, another archnemesis who battle the Hulk's brawn with brain. The cliffhanger near the ends however, takes the cake when we see Robert Downey Jr in a cameo as Tony Stark aka Ironman telling General Ross that they are assembling a team, obviously refering to the Avenger, which is rumoured to be an upcoming Marvel live action movie project.

I suddenly find myself wondering how an Avenger movie would be like if Peter Jackson directs it.

Indiana Jones and Mars Attack?

A newspaper's review of the movie reminded me to forget about logic as I watch this. With most of the recent films attempting to be as real as possible, even as they tackle out of the world concept, I must admit I almost forgot about movies that try to be just fun.
An Indiana Jones movie has always been about fun and going to watch the latest installment, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I had hope to again capture the feeling and excitement I got from the earlier films.
The movie begins with the Russians forcing Indy to help them steal a mysterious item from a US military facility in Area 51. That location itself is enough to tell us the direction that this movie is heading. Indy escaped but without stopping the Russian from making away with the mysterious cargo. Then a young man appeared, asking Indy to help rescue his kidnaped mother and foster father and the real adventure begins.
As with Rocky Balboa, the film did not try to hide the fact that the main character has aged much since the last outing but age hasn't slowed Indy down much though. Except for the occasion whining about how things used to be easier, he still made some unbelievable escape. He isn't any clumsier than he used to be but if he can take on a younger Russian commander, I guess he is still pretty strong.
Unfortunately, despite all their attempt, I just don't feel like this is an Indiana Jones movie. The chase scene in the jungle is the only entertaining part of the movie but I keeps thinking Pirates of the Carribean as I watched that. Don't know why. Some peole may think the man-eating ants are a bit far-fetched but I thought it was totally cool. Hey, it's an Indiana Jones movie. I will never forget the 'monk' in Temple of Doom who can retrieve a man's beating heart right from his chest.
Well, that was about it. The rest of the movie was rather dull for this franchise. Even the famous theme music is very much toned down. And after 19 years of choosing the right script, they can't even get that right. I don't expect the script to be flawless but there is just too many missing ingredients. I am all for exaggeration but certain recipes just doesn't mixed right. You will understand what I mean after you seen the film.
It's not a bad movie, but it is a lousy Indiana Jones movie.

Man in Red Iron Armor

The cool thing about a hero in armor is the special effect. Obviously, a man in armor is easier to rendered than a man in flesh. We only have to look at Ironman, currently showing in cinema and the upcoming The Incredible Hulk to make a comparison.Shiny metal armor in gold and red - Easy.
Facial expression, accurate anatomy and skin complexion - Not so easy.
In the same context, it is also easier to translates the characters into action figure, making some really cool merchandises. I would choose the Stormtroopers figures over any of the leading characters in the Starwars saga anytime. Strangely though, I don't see any Ironman toys offered with any fastfood kiddie meal combo.
Let's make another quick comparison.
The original Ironman in the comic book is Tony Stark, genius inventor of his own weapons manufacturing Stark Enterprise. Wounded while he was in Vietnam, he must dons the suit of Ironman which ironically he considered his greatest failure, to continue living. And because the suit has a device that keep his heart beating, he must never remove it.
The movie Ironman is still Tony Stark, genius inventor of his own weapons manufacturing Stark Enterprise. Wounded while in Afghanistan, he was fitted with a electromagnet in his chest by the enemies' doctor, to prevented sharpnels he received in an explosion from slowly reaching his heart and killing him. Unfortunately, this electromagnet is powered by a bulky battery very much like the one that starts our car. He too turned to his greatest failure, a energy generator that was both bulky and cost-inefficient (since that project was started only as a publicity stunts) to create a small and powerful generator to power the magnet. Hence taking his first steps to becoming Ironman.
Heck.. they have to update the character. The original Ironman used to carry his armors in a briefcase. Would you have believe that?
The villains were updated too. I didn't read the Ironman comic books but I do know that the Mandarin and Titanium Man count amongt his enemies.

In the movie, the Mandarin goes by the moniker Ten Rings. We made the connection right away because the original Mandarain wears a ring on each of his finger. It wasn't vanity. Each ring is a weapon on its own. Ten Rings is a leader of a band of terrorists in Afghanistan that kidnapped Stark in the begining of the movie. Their attempt to force Stark to build powerful weapon for them led to the creation of Ironman which Stark used to escaped from his captivity. Without those rings weapons that the original Mandarin wore, Ten Rings is unable to reach the level of threat that his comic counterpart is able to do.
Titanium Man was supposed to be the Soviet equivalent to Ironman back during the Cold War. though not as advanced as the Ironman armor, it does boosts greater firepower and being built with titanium, is tougher than Ironman. In the movie, Titanium Man's other name, the Iron Monger was used instead. Here he is an upgraded model of the first armor Stark built in Afghanistan to make his escape. Here Monger overwhelm Ironman in both sheer brute force and Firepower. Afdterall, there is only so many weapons you can fit into a suit of armor. Monger is more than that as it was not worn but controlled electronically from within, making him a freaking robot. Ironically, it was Ironman which was built with gold titanium in the movie and that edge Stark used to defeat the Iron Monger. Not just titanium here.. it's gold titanium. Cool.
Everyone may wants to be in a superhero movie now but when you got a stellar cast the likes of Robert Downey Jr, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow, you know there got to be something solid about the script. The film paced along very well, from the time Stark was kidnapped to his daring escape, from the creation of the clumsy first Ironman prototype to the final sleeks aerodynamic gold and red model and the personal development of Stark's character and the other supporting casts. Maybe not all of us will love Stark but we definitely respect his genius and resolute to set right what he has done wrong. A good script is one that can make the audiences feels what the movie requires them to feel toward its characters.
Personally, I always liked to have the main villain to appeared early in the film so we can see the kind of dangers he really posed. The iron Moner only appeared toward the end of the film but as a pilot movie, sometimes it is more vital to develop the hero first, as was done in "Batman Begins". As suggested from the trailer to its sequel titled "The Dark Knight", we will see Batman's archnemesis appearing fairly early and wreaking much havocs. I expect the same for Ironman but with two of his greatest enemies already out of the picture, who else can he fights?
Well.. I guess there is always the Hulk.

Ironman

I just got home from Cineleisure from the premiere screening of Ironman in Malaysia.
Initial comment is; yeah, it's pretty good. Interesting characters, good script, great design and special effect plus they managed to stay true to the original Ironman, albeit very much updated. The movie works, better than expected and I heard Tony Stark will also be making an cameo appearance in the upcoming Incredible Hulk movie. Everything goes as planned then we may even see Ironman vs Hulk in the future. Hmm..
Well, will write a full review soon. Gotta sleep now.

The new Knight Rider

Some times ago, I had a funny discussion with some friends on what 80's TV series that may be made into a movie. The list included some really unlikely "hits" like a live action Care Bear and My Little Ponies (wincing yet?) but the one show that I thought has a good potential is Knight Rider.
I was a big fan of the show then and KITT was my dream car. I also recalled that KITT has a nemesis in a similar car named KATT.
KITT KATT? Gimme a break!
Anyway, two things are obvious if there ever going to be a new Knight Rider.
1) David Hasselhoff is NOT to return to lead the cast.
2) KITT definitely need to be housed in a more updated model.
For the former, I really can't think of anyone other than Paul Walker. Sorry.. love the first two Fast and Furious, kinda already stereotype him as the coolest face behind the wheel of a sport car.
For the latter, I just knew it's going to be an American car. No Lamborghini, no Ferrari, no BMW Z4. It's an American pride thing. Even in Tokyo Drift, the protaganist has to drive an American car (with Japanese engine though) in the end and Knight Rider is an American show set in America. My guess was that it is going to be a Dodge Viper.

This car is so sleek right? Kinda match what the original KITT was in the 80's.
As it turned out, the new Knight Rider is already out, not as a new movie but as a new updated TV series. I only found that out when I read Henry's blog. But they didn't get a Viper, they got a Mustang!

A Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 to be precise. Whatever.. I never did know much about cars.
It was an interesting choice though because this is obviously not the shiny sleek type of sport car guys drive to club to attract chicks but the tough as nail powerful car intended to get a job done, no matter the damages that come with it, to public properties or to the car itself. But of course we also know that the only thing that can come close to even denting a KITT is a KATT right?
I said it was an interesting choice because this reminded me of how they chose Daniel Craig as the new Bond, switching from smart, suave, sleek to fast and furious dangerous! I suspect we will be seeing a lot more car chase scenes in the new series. Come to think of it, there isn't much of that in the original series. At that age I saw it, I got enough thrill every time Turbo Boost is used, sending the car flying.
Hope to catch that show soon. The trailer I saw in youtube definitely looked interesting. I noticed KITT not only has a new body but also a new voice that is more human. Kinda liked the original voice though.
I still have no idea who is the lead actor but I am guessing David Hasselhoff will be making a guest appearance.

World of Idols

The first Idol show I followed was American Idol Season 3, and if memory serve me right, it was in the same year of the first and only World Idol. I caught that on a repeat telecast and it was the first time I saw Kelly Clarkson in action. (Well.. I don't watch a lot of TV or listen to the radio much then). Kelly sang Natural Woman and I thought, "How can she only won second place? The other contestents aren't even half as good as her!" Clips from her time in American Idol shows an adorable bubbly personality and her attention to what the judges said display such intelligence and openness to constructive critism. (some contestents actually argued with the judge, I recalled one who cussed too). I mean.. what a woman... my kinda gal.

Could not find a clip of her in World Idol. This is a similar performance in American Idol.

And then of course Kurt Nilsen from Norway opened his mouth and I can only go, "Oh.. ooooh!" Kurt Nilsen won the World Idol hands down fair and square.
It was 8TV (best free TV channel in the country) that brought the Idol show to Malaysia 4 years ago with Malaysian Idol. The other stations wouldn't bring it in because the franchise was too expensive. 8TV makes no secret that its intention was to send a Malaysian Idol onto the world stage and our very first Idol, Jaclyn Victor proved that she has the prowess to be there. Unfortunately, there was never a second World Idol show.
The good news however, is that the first Asian Idol, with idols from six Asian countries, just finished its competition stage some half an hour ago as I am typing this. And our first Malaysian Idol was right up there with Singapore Idol, Vietnam Idol, Philippines Idol, Indonesia Idol and India Idol. I'm not good with names so I can't remember them but the Vietnam Idol is really pretty. Poor gal is not too happy when one judge commented that whether she can sings or not, she has the greatest commercial value of all the contestents there. She wants to hear compliment on her singing, not her look. She already knows she is pretty. What a character. Nice...
OK... Jaclyn Victor! She definitely did Malaysia proud. I think she has the most powerful vocal there. One judge said that she is too technical but I think that is one skill where she really outperformed the other. On the judge point that it was too technical that she failed to immersed herself in the song? I'm not sure, I didn't quite notice.
But the Idol is a win by votes competition. How can the show avoids bias judgement? Every countries is bound to vote for their own idol right? The Asian Idol solution is that each voter has to votes for two favourites or his/her vote will not count. This way I can vote for my own idol as well as another deserving Idol at the same time. For example, I voted Malaysia as well as each other country three times. That means each Singapore Idol, Vietnam Idol, Philippines Idol, Indonesia Idol and India Idol each got three votes from me while Malaysian Idol got 15. Suddenly, I am not too sure about their system. If 10 million Malaysians vote as I did, imagine what the score would be for Jaclyn? But then again, what is our measly population compared to India or Indonesia? My condolences to Vietnam and Singapore, by the way.
I recalled the system in the World Idol was that you cannot vote for your own country (unless you happened to be in another country at the time of voting). The result from each country is first individually ranked and then collectively tabulated. Using point system determined by the contestents' ranking, the rightful winner is finally fairly announced.
My suspicion for Asian Idol is that they will eliminate all the own country vote, otherwise Indonesia Idol will almost certainly wins. Why asking us to vote for 2 countries in the first place when they intend to do that then?
To ensure that we DO vote. One possible reason there wasn't a second World Idol is probably the lack of response to voting. By letting us vote for 2 countries, they tugged at our spirit of patriotism to support our local Idol as well as ensuring that we send votes for someone else that we think deserved to win. Yes.. I too can get very technical.
Which also means damn.. I just sent 3 votes for each country against my own. Oops..
Another thing I really wonder about is the quality of the sound mixing. The judges loved Philippines Idol's rendition of Reach but to me, it was rather flat without much high and low, as if she was saving her breath for an explosive ending which I thought she failed to deliver. When they show the recap however, it was totally different as she was actually really powerful. That was what the judges hear. That was what brought in the positive comments. Unfortunately for the home audiences, the poor sound mixing of the broadcast understated the true extend of the Idols' talent.
In my humblest and most honest opinion, I still think Malaysian Idol delivered the best performance. Jacyln Victor's vocal and showmanship (especially her showmanship) is unparalleled to the other Idols.
Yes.. I voted for my own Idol but my opinion is only 5% biased.

Delightfully Enchanting

Two fairy tales in a week and I love them both. I hope I am not getting soft.
But while Stardust is a tale of adventure and destiny, Enchanted is about something even greater - love.
Don't let my choice of words fool you. Enchanted is nowhere as epic or grand as Stardust. It is just much more delightful to watch.
Starting off as a cartoon, with the beautiful Giselle and the handsome Prince Edward falling in love at first sight, the movie quickly took a twist when Prince Edward's evil stepmother, reluctant to step down from the throne as Queen, banished Giselle into another world. Our world, or the middle of New York City, to be precise.
New York City is a world very different from the enchanted land of Andalasia. The sweet and innocent Giselle would not last one night in New york had she not meet dashing lawyer Robert who happened to be passing by with his daughter. Giselle however, is not doomed to be stuck in New York forever as her chipmunk friend, Pip saw everything and alerted the prince to come rescue her.
As with most of the leading ladies in traditional fairy tales, Giselle is full of love,ever kindhearted, eternally optimistic, hopelessly trusting, enjoys cleaning the house, speak to animal, sings at every opportunity.. the list goes on. In short, she gives us every reason to love her, provided we do not overdosed from her sweetness. From her horror upon arrival, to her delight of making new friend, to her cluelessness of the way of our world, and her joy when she sings, Amy Adams fits into this animated role so effortlessly she might as well be an animation herself.
Equally animated, Prince Edward was also swallow, as was every Prince Charming in existence. If we looked back at all those Disney cartoons, the prince never did anything but show up in the end of the movie to marry Snow White or Cinderella. At least in Sleeping Beauty, he fought a dragon. Still, it was fun to watched him basking in his own glory of greatness and courage.
Robert was probably the least remarkable of the three characters. But he is dashing and Dempsey does dashing well. All the ladies would swoon over him. The children I suspect, would prefer the prince.
It was a fun filled movie with plenty of laugh worthy moments and a few good song. It was the characters that made this movie comes alive, most notably Amy Adams's excellent portrayal of Giselle. Clearly a children film but the dance sequence near the end was so well done it upped the romance element several notches. The humour would appeal to most comedy lovers too. Definitely the best date movie I ever seen, if only I had a date.
Ah.. maybe it won't be long before I found my true love kiss..

Shining Stars

There are times when I just want to be thrilled by nerve-wrecking action on screen, or awed with the acrobatic prowess of a martial art exponent. Other times, nothing engaged me more than the mind game and strategy two brilliant opponents employed on one another. Then again, sometimes I just want to laugh my heart out on the silliest matter. But nothing really beat the charm and delight of watching a fairy tale.Stardust is a story about a young man's journey across the wall from the mortal world of Wall, England into the magical world Stormhold to retrieve a fallen star to prove his love to a girl. In that realm however, the star took the form of another beautiful girl. Young Tristan convinced the star, Yvaine to follow him home so he may present her to his love. Unknown to them however, hot on their trail is a wicked witch intended to capture the star, whose heart is able to restore her youth and a prince aftering her for a jewel she found and wore, so he may rightfully take the throne.
The story may not be much, and we can already guess of the happy ending. But it was the journey, not the destination that matter the most isn't it? Neil Gaiman had fill the story with some very likable and memorable characters as well as interesting concepts. The very idea of a fallen star taking the form of a human is by itself fresh. It was delightful how she literally shines when she is filled with joy. Then there are the ghosts of dead princes stranded on earth until a new king is crowned, which made for good laugh. The magic chain that rebond after it is cut is a simple but neat idea. But my favourite has to be the flying ship, with net that flap out like wings, used to collect lightning in stormy skies and subsequently sold as spell.
The movie has an easy flow with everything tying up nicely in the end. While I am not too familiar with Neil Gaiman's work, the film was too apparently light for his style. I was told that the original story was darker and does not have a happy ending. Although fans will swear that the book is much better, and the work is illustrated by Charles Vess, whose works I absolutely adore, I am not too sure I want to know the story in any other way than what was portrayed in the movie.