The Sun is dying...

Sunshine

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Chris Evans, Troy Garity, Hiroyuki Sanada, Mark Strong, Benedict Wong, & Michelle Yeoh
Genre: Science Fiction
Director: Danny Boyle

Script: Don't let the posters and trailers fool you, this movie is not another clone of Armageddon ala The Core. Instead, it has the potential to become 2001: A Space Odyssey. Unfortunately, halfway through the movie, the script degrades into a slasher movie.
3 / 5 stars

Acting: There's a lot of familiar faces here, but all of them are mediocre at best, with the exception of maybe Cillian Murphy who has more screen time than the others.
3 / 5 stars

FX: Do not expect high budgeted explosions like other movies taking place in space, but overall the special effects are convincing enough and pretty much well done.
3.5 / 5 stars

Tilt: The momentum and buildup of a potential cult story sort of crashed to an irrecoverable halt midway through the movie.
2 / 5 stars

Overall:
3 / 5 stars

The Good: If you can forgive the flaws of the latter half of the movie, this movie really reminds you of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The Bad: The u-turn of the script, and some cast have too little screen time to develop a bond between them and the viewers.
The Ugly: As if a u-turn is not bad enough, the u-turn leads you straight into a ravine.

Potential Censorship*: There isn't any excessive scenes of any kind, so censorship should be minimal if there is going to be any.

*Malaysian viewers only.

A Tale of Nanu and Seela

Arctic Tale

Starring: Nanu & Seela
Genre: Documentary
Director: Sarah Robertson

Script: Generally the way the producers decide to focus solely on the life of the two animals, Nanu the Polar Bear and Seela the Walrus, is a well tested method of making documentaries. It's nothing new, but hey, it works.
3 / 5 stars

Acting: There's no acting here, everything is real. So I'm not going to give points here based on 'acting', but more towards how the producers shoot the animals in accordance to the 'script'.
3 / 5 stars

FX: Well, there's no need for special effects here. But the cinematography of the natural Arctic places is very well done. It's amazing how they capture all these and I cannot say anything but respect for all the time that must have been used for the perfect shots.
3.5 / 5 stars

Tilt: If you like March of the Penguins, you'll like this one. It's more of the same, really.
3 / 5 stars

Overall:
3 / 5 stars

The Good: This documentary is a must-watch especially if you are a big fan of documentaries and animals. Even if you are not, it may be worthwhile just to see how life is in the harsh frozen Arctic, and how global warming is severely affecting it.

The Bad: There aren't really much life in the Arctic, so the movie's compendium of animals is quite limited.

The Ugly: If you have seen March of the Penguins, you may feel repetitious watching this one, as are most documentaries.

Potential Censorship*: There's no human at all in the entire film, and as far as I know, our censorship board never censor anything else that's not related.

*Malaysian viewers only.

The Disks of Mishakal

Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight

Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Lucy Lawless, Michael Rosenbaum, & Michelle Trachtenberg
Genre: Animation, Fantasy
Director: Will Meugniot

Script: While the producers did manage to tell the whole story of the book into a 1.5 hours movie, they did so with a lot of rush. Scenes are jumped from one to another, leaving no room for the characters to build their own attachment to the viewers.
2 / 5 stars

Acting: Voice acting are pretty average, probably just because there aren't much script to go around in the first place. Sutherland's Raistlin is a bit overdone, while Lawless fail to stand out from the crowd.
2.5 / 5 stars

FX: The decision to mix both old school animation and CGI is a disaster. The two don't merge well together, and the CGI is not up to today's standard at all.
2 / 5 stars

Tilt: Nothing new here. Just another retelling adaptation from a legendary novel into a seemingly low budgeted cartoon. (I wonder how much they paid Sutherland for this?)
2 / 5 stars

Overall:
2 / 5 stars

The Good: Well finally we have a Dragonlance movie. Good to see the companions on the screen for once.

The Bad: Like the Golden Compass, a lot of scenes are shortened considerably to make the final cut due to on-screen time constrain. Didn't LOTR teach these guys anything?

The Ugly: With the first movie below par, this does not bode well for the next two in the trilogy.

Potential Censorship*: Being a pretty mild animation despite being of fantasy nature, there probably won't be anything needing censorship.

*Malaysian viewers only.

Did you see that?!

Cloverfield

Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, & T.J. Miller
Genre: Action
Director: Matt Reeves

Script: It's a monster movie, but it's also a tale of what-if this happens to you. Putting the viewer into the perspective of just another average joe instead of some hero.
3.5 / 5 stars

Acting: Pretty much unknown actors & actresses, I guess you just have to use them to achieve the handycam effect. However, they do carry themselves pretty well.
3.5 / 5 stars

FX: Despite the fact you don't really see much of the chaos, what little you see is pretty much big budgeted and you certainly won't feel like you're missing out.
4 / 5 stars

Tilt: A fresh new approach towards what is to-be a typical monster movie.
4 / 5 stars

Overall:
4 / 5 stars

The Good: In a way the movie lives up to its viral marketing hype. The monster is pretty unique and not like anything you have seen or expecting. The handycam style puts a surreal effect into viewers, turning a supposedly 'just another monster movie' into an emotional experience of survival.

The Bad: Since the viewpoint is entirely from a handycam, you won't get to see a lot of what you'd really like to.

The Ugly: Beware if you are prone to motion sickness.

Censorship*: None noticable.

*Malaysian viewers only.

There was a barber and his wife

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Jamie Campbell Bower, Jayne Wisener, & Sacha Baron Cohen
Genre: Musical
Director: Tim Burton

Script: It's based on a myth, so there's really nothing much to tell here. Still, the way the movie intertwines the different characters together while incooperating the songs gives the script some respect.
3.5 / 5 stars

Acting: The casts are no stranger to anyone. You have the magnificento Depp, Bonham Carter, Professor Snape, and even Borat. But you will still be in for a surprise when you see them sing.
4.5 / 5 stars

FX: There isn't really much need for special effects here, just what little is required to achieve that past century look of London.
3 / 5 stars

Tilt: When is the last time you have seen a musical about a serial killer?
4 / 5 stars

Overall:
4 / 5 stars

The Good: Here I have to mention the casts again. Depp proves his flexibility of acting at another uniquely different role yet again. And who would've expected we'll ever see Professor Snape sing?

The Bad: The songs in the movie all share the same music, it's just the lyrics that change. But that's not exactly a really bad thing because they (the lyrics) are all very innovative and guaranteed to tick that sense of humour in you.

The Ugly: Well, like most musical, there is not really much space to expand on the story. It is a pretty straight forward story, in which case if this is not a musical the movie probably will only be an hour long.

Censorship*: Nothing excessive that can derail the movie. Mostly only the exact moments when Todd slits the throats of his victims. Imagine the before and after scenes of - Razor at neck - Victim bleeding compulsively from slitted throat.

*Malaysian viewers only.