You Are The Apple Of My Eye (那些年，我们一起追的女孩) Review

You Are The Apple of My Eye is a Taiwanese romantic, coming-of-age comedy about Ko Ching-Teng (Ko Chen Tung), a mischievous, lazy student who falls for an honour student, Shen Chia-yi (Michelle Chen) and chases her.



I'm not a fan of romantic comedies at all. I loathe it when the main plot is about a couple. I, however, found this film very sweet. I loved the character and the relationship between the 2 main characters were beautiful and believable. You root for them to get together. And the film, unlike alot of romantic comedies out there, is funny.

I thought that even though Ching-Teng was a cliche character, he was still likable and you don't get bored from his character. Chia Yi was also another likable character and I really bought the relationship. So, kudos to the actors because both really have chemistry. Even though I thought that their acting could have used some improvement, it was not too much of a distraction.

One thing I really liked about the film was the ending. It made me respect the story a lot more and teaches us how love is about sacrifices as well. It may cause a huge upset but, let's face it, life can end up this way as well.

My complaints for this movie are very minor. First, I thought that some comedy (most of which derived from sexual humour) was little too much at times. The movie also dragged in the middle. And, as mentioned, the acting wasn't the best.

However, despite my complaints, I enjoyed watching this movie and I highly recommend it to everyone (who are not children).

Arthur Christmas: An animated comedy from Aardman. You know what that means? Lots of British humour! You know what that also means? I need to watch the movie more than once to get the British humour because I'm dumb that way!



Arthur Christmas answers a popular question: How does Santa get around the world with presents all in one night? Also, why is it that we can never see Santa's house even if we searched it on Google Earth? The answer is that Santa (voiced by Jim Broadbent)and his millions if (ninja) elves go around the world delivering presents in a high tech spaceship. The person controlling this mission is none other than his son, Steve (Hugh Laurie). One day, however, a child's present has not been delivered and it up to Arthur (James McAvoy) and his granfather, grandsanta (Bill Nighy)to get that present to the child before Christmas morning.

Yes, the story's highly predictable but aside from that I really enjoyed this movie. It was smart, funny and beautifully animated. This movie is, also, coming from Aardman (the people who created Chicken Run and Happy Feet). In this movie, every character is likable as well. Arthur, the extremely holiday-spirited boy, is very lovable and I thought that James McAvoy has done such a great job to bring out the sweetness and innocence of this character. Grandsanta is very funny as well.

The animation is brilliant. The details to the character's hair, clothes, clouds- all beautifully done. I know this sounds gross but I was looking at Grandsanta's nose at one point and I just love how they put so much detail into it. Also, the first flying scene was great and it really gave me that sense of flight (and it reminded me of How to Train Your Dragon as well!)

The humour, I thought, was okay. It wasn't laugh-out-loud funny but I had a few chuckles here and there. I saw what they were trying to do but I didn't think it was as funny as everyone said it was to be. Some jokes feel flat for me and were a little too kiddish for my taste.

The movie dragged in the middle and I couldn't help but feel a little bored.

The "moral of the story" was pretty interesting too because it wasn't for kids. They tackled on the issue of "Old vs New" and which is better. So, that's always interesting to see how one has an advantage over the other.

This would be definitely be one of the movies where families would watch over and over again on Christmas. Arthur Christmas is a Christmas classic.

Puss In Boots Review

Puss In Boots finally has his own movie! And what a great lead character he was!



Puss In Boots is a prequel of Shrek and it stars the sexy, charismatic Puss (Antonio Banderas) out on an adventure to find the magical beans and, subsequently, the golden goose. Together with him on this adventure are Kitty Softpaw (Salma Hayek) and Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis). Of course, with every hero, there's a villian. And for this movie, it's Jack and Jill fill those shoes. At the same, Jack wants to be a father!

First, the positives: This film is very funny and very cute. There's humour for everyone of any age and that's always great.

You care for the main character as well which is very important in films. Banderas does such a great job to bring out the character. I loved Puss in the Shrek films and he and Donkey were my favourite characters. Of course, what we've learned from Cars 2 is that you should never give the "clown" his own spin-off. And I am very glad they gave this movie to Puss. He's a great character and you would fall in love with him (especially if you are a cat-lover).

The relationship between Kitty Softpaws and Puss wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. I usually hate the romantic plots in movies but this was really sweet and believable.

The animation is (of course) amazing and beautiful. And this, being a Dreamworks film, has amazing 3D sequences. The animators did such a great job with Puss' fur and it looks so soft and realistic- amazing! The action scenes were great as well. The dance sequence between Puss and Kitty was very creative and very entertaining to watch as well.

Unfortunately, this suffers from what most Dreamworks film suffers from. It's entertaining but there's not much heart in their movies. Yes, they try with Puss' caregiver and Puss but it didn't work as well as I wanted. Furthermore, the relationship between Puss and Humpty wasn't very good, as well. And the main villian of this film was very weak and the film ran out of the steam before it ended. The climax of this movie was pretty ridiculous to be honest.

However, it's still an above average show and I liked it very much. It's very fun and exciting and I recommend it for the whole family.

The Three Musketeers (2011) Review

To be honest, I have no idea what the storyline for the original Three Musketeers is. So, I can't judge if the storyline is congruent to the recent Musketeers movie. I've only watched one Musketeer movie (besides this) and it's the Disney version. You know...



I don't think this is the real storyline, right?

Anyway, the recent Three Musketeers is about a young lad by the name of D'Artagnan [thank you internet! Or I would have never remembered his name] (Logan Lerman) teams up with three "retired" Musketeers (Matthew MacFadyen, Luke Evans and Ray Stevenson)to defeat the evil Richlieu (Christoph Waltz), Buckingham (Orlando Bloom) and a sly lady called Milady (Milla Jovovich).



To be honest, you don't really need to know the plot because the story-telling in this movie is really horrible. And so was the acting. Everything was just too cartoon-ish. The green screen was really obivious so points are lost for visual effects. Although, in it's defence, some visuals are pretty enough to enjoy.

I have heard many horrible things about this movie. So, I went into the theatres with really low expectations. When I came out of the movie, I thought that it was pretty decent. The movie did what it was meant to do: To be a fun show. And I, honestly, had fun in this movie. Although I didn't laugh at most of the jokes, it didn't make me cringe and I just went with the flow. The movie's pretty dumb as well but it's not dumb to the point that it's annoying. It's hard to explain, but I enjoyed the goofiness of The Three Musketeers.

It's a passable movie though. However, I didn't think it was as bad as everyone claims it is.

And is it me or does some part of the soundtrack sound very familiar?

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Cars 2 Review

Over the weekend, I've watched Cars 2: The first Pixar movie that had a rotten in "Rotten Tomatoes", breaking Pixar's perfect streak. Was it really that Pixar bad?



Cars 2, if you have done your research, is about Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) instead of Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson). McQueen, who had invited Mater and some of their Radiator Springs buddy, is travelling across 3 countries to compete in the World Grand Prix. Somehow, Mater gets mistaken as an American spy and teams up with the 2 British spies: Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer).

First off, the positives: Cars 2 was beautiful! The reflections of the car, the waves (note: Water is probably the hardest thing to achieve in animation) and the sceneries. This is one beautiful film to watch. Another part I love about the movie (which I enjoyed from the first film) was the friendship formed between Mater and McQueen. Yes, it got a tad bit preachy and corny the middle, but, eventually, I thought the way they portrayed their bromance was sweet.

Now, for the bad, and, trust me, there is alot of things to complain about Cars 2.

I don't like Mater. I liked him in the first movie when he was the secondary character but he just cannot be the main character. His humour is so unfunny and the jokes wear out very quickly. And speaking of jokes, they are extremely childish in this film. I never liked Pixar jokes. I hardly laughed in Toy Story 3 or Up when you're supposed to laugh. But what do those 2 films have to make up for the lack of laughter? Having the heart at the right place. Another reason that I felt Cars 2 lacked. It had heart, trust me. It tried to have heart. However, it was all wrong. Like I said above, it was so cheesy and they emphasizing on Mater and McQueen's friendship that it became preachy and uncomfortable in the middle of it.

Pixar fans won't enjoy it. I don't think fans of the original Cars would enjoy it since the tone is extremely different. I didn't enjoy this movie and I thought it was a tad bit draggy in the the middle. However, I didn't think it was as bad as everyone says it is. It is a passable movie.

Toy Story 4?

I know this movie news is pretty late but I didn't have time to report it over the week due to my examinations. So, Tom Hanks hinted in an interview that perhaps Toy Story 4 may happen?

Before anyone jumps in to say, "This is a terrible idea! Totally unnecessary. Toy Story 2 and 3 were great." First, let me tell you this: Unless planned, all sequels are unnecessary. We didn't need a Toy Story 2. We didn't need a Spiderman 2. We didn't need an Iron Man 2. And right now, we don't need a Thor 2 (which is set to come out in 2013). It's not about the numbers, it's about the story-telling nowadays. Yes, there should be a limit (I'm looking at your Kung Fu Panda) but it'll be interesting to know how things are going in Bonnie's house and perhaps we can see them returning to Andy when he has kids (which was what I really wanted because seeing Andy and Woody seperate broke my heart).



I am not a fan of sequels, though. There are some films that should be left alone. But there are some movies (like How To Train Your Dragon) where I wouldn't really mind a sequel because I want to get into that world again. Full of dragons and I absoublutely love the time I spent with the characters. So, I wouldn't mind a second and third one (which are, hopefully, good, if not, better than the first one)

So, I'm willing to give Toy Story 4 a try since I do love seeing the world in a toy's point of view.

*sniffles* Last Harry Potter Trailer Ever

I don't know about you but I have grown up with Harry Potter. Sure, there was a drought between Order of Phoenix but I still recovered and became a Potter head again. It's just devastating to see Hogwarts just destroyed like this. And now, readers, I will say my top 5 favourite parts of the movie:

1) Mummy Potter in the beginning
Mummy Potter telling little Harry to stay strong before she got killed by Voldemort. And little Harry's crying his eyes out. I feel a tear in my eye.

2) Contrast
I just loved how they showed the Qudditch pitch in a pretty bright background and then just transitioning to the pitch just being on fire and the stands are just falling off. Oh my goodness. My heart just... can't take the pain.

3) Snape
Gosh, I love this character. And Harry just shouting at him, telling him about the whole "Dumbledore trusted him", trying to make him feel guilty.

4) The Stone
*SPOILER*
Harry uses the Resurrection Stone to summon back Lupin, Sirius, Lily and James before he confronts Voldemort. A scene in the book that had me bawling my eyes out. I really wasn't expecting them to put this part in. Goodness, I'm crying just thinking about it.

5) NOSTALGIA!
They went back to all the previous movies and you see Harry and you'll go, "He's so grown up!" And you start crying. Or that's the case for me.

Btw, Dreamworks marketting team, this is how you're supposed to make a good trailer. Great blend of action and emotion.

Best. Trailer. Ever. Excuse me while I go blow my nose...