#3 Updates, Updates, Updates!

I might update more Fixi books as I bought new ones at MPH, Jaya Jusco. Well, I met an old friend and her sister, and met her again Starbucks.

So,

Title: Ajaib 

Author: Syafiq Aizat

Publisher: Buku Fixi 

Language: Malay 

Title: Zombijaya

Author: Adib Zaini 

Publisher: Buku Fixi 

Language: Malay 

Title: Tuhan 

Author: Hasrul Rizwan 

Publisher: Buku Fixi 

Language: Malay 

I think I'd be posting the books next week, one of the books. Pre-trial's are reaching, so I might need some time off writing I guess. It's hard being me, you know? And there's no hot barista here, I think he works on Saturdays. Bad luck Salma, I guess. 

Film Review: The Ring (2002)

Title: The Ring

Genre: Psychological Thriller, Horror 

Language: English 

Running time: 115 minutes

Distributed by: DreamWorks Pictures

Directed by: Gore Verbinski 

Ratings: 7/10 

Summary:

A disturbing videotape appears to hold the power of life and death over those who view it in this offbeat thriller. A strange videotape begins making the rounds in a town in the Pacific Northwest; it is full of bizarre and haunting images, and after watching it, many viewers receive a telephone call in which they are warned they will die in seven days. A handful of teenagers who watched the tape while spending a weekend at a cabin in the mountains scoff at the threat, but as predicted, they all die suddenly on the same night. Rachel Keller , the aunt of one of the ill-fated teens, is a journalist who has decided to investigate the matter and travels West with her young son, Aidan , a troubled child who has been drawing pictures of strange and ominous visions. Rachel managed to find the cabin in the woods and watches the video herself; afterward, she receives the same phone call, and realizes she must solve the puzzle of the video and the person or persons behind it within a week. Rachel turns to her ex, Noah , an expert in video technology, who at first is convinced the story is a hoax until he digs deeper into the mystery

Review:

Particularly, I am a fond of horror and thriller movies and one of my friends, started to tell me about this one. As an adventurer (whut) myself, I went to megashare and searched for it. I like how this movie is from the top to the bottom is all horrific. I was scared to go to sleep so I watched My Sassy Girl to eliminate the scare. 

The Ring is about a mysterious video tape where if someone watches it, they will die after seven days. Well in modern technology, you can see that I'm a little bit skeptic as it is impossible for you to die after watching a video tape as a video tape does not really contain any powers to kill nor murder someone after seven days. Even if all the curiosity, this horror movie gets into your skin and I was watching this with my TV on so you can understand my frustration. But I was watching this in a hotel room and my dad is sleeping so I had to have the TV on because I need a distraction. 

I had a similarity as Aidan has the same name as my little brother and what if he watches the god damn tape, but I rarely think that it is possible. Also, I think that this movie is also the movie if you are a horror-junky like me. I find this movie thrilling and disturbing as 'Samara cannot sleep' and all those other bullshit. 

So for those who needs this for horror movies night, this is an absolute classic as a lot of comics, movies makes references about The Ring. So, "Before you die, you see."

Film Review: My Sassy Girl (2008)

Title: My Sassy Girl 

Language: English 

Genre: Romantic Comedy 

Running Time: 92 minutes 

Directed by: Yann Samuel 

Distributed by: Fox Home Entertainment

Ratings: 8/10 

Summary:

'My Sassy Girl' is a 2008 American remake of the 2001 Korean Romantic Comedy, of the same name. 

Charlie Bellow has a kind-heart, handsome and hopeful, hoping that someday he will have a managerial position in the Tiller King Company, an agricultural company, where his father works as a maintenance mechanic. After taking business in New York City, one of Charlie's cousins died. This grieved Charlie and one of his cousins who passed away. One day in the park, he and his friend decided to play a game, choosing the girl they'd want to sleep with. Charlie was astonished by Jordan, hence that is how he met her for the first time, but that night Charlie was supposed to be set up with someone by her grieving aunt. 

Later that day, at the Subway, Charlie sees drunken Jordan is leaning on the rail. When the train came, Charlie pulled her from it. After setting her up on the subway seats, a purse as a pillow, Charlie leaves her. But taken up as Charlie thinks it is his responsibility, Charlie stays with her, and takes her home. 

Charlie sobers up Jordan, and they go on very odd dates that sometimes sabotages Charlie's life like Jordan telling the Tiller King representative that she was pregnant with Charlie's child, drunk, her offensive face-to-face volatile personality -- asking him to bring a rose to her piano recital, sabotaging Charlie's opportunity with the Tiller King representative, and pushed him into a river. Even though there is a lot of shit that has happened to him, Charlie decided that he is in love with Jordan, because he could handle every crap that Jordan gives him. But they drifted away for quite sometime because her father thinks that Charlie is a bad influence on her erratic behavior. 

A few months later, Jordan asks Charlie to bring her a letter, telling him to write what Charlie feels about her. In Central Park, Jordan forces Charlie to go to the end of the route, wondered if he could hear her, and she yells out how she was sorry and cried. Then, they went to a tree, with a cocktail shaker, asking him to make a time capsule with her. They placed both of their letters in it, and buried it under the tree. Jordan asks him that they could not meet until the same day next year at two o' clock at this same spot. Charlie is upset because of this, as they were officially separated at the spot where they met personally, the Subway. 

Jordan asks him to take the first train. As he did, the train stopped and Charlie got out when Jordan went in. The year for Charlie was hard, as he could not forget Jordan. He went to a number of dates, but none of them felt right because he was still in love with Jordan. 

A year passed by, and on the same date, but different year, Charlie went to the tree at 2 o' clock. Assuming that Jordan was late as she always was, he then finds out that she's not coming and read her letter, taking out the time capsule. In the letter, Jordan explains how she was in love with him, Charlie looking and is like his ex-fiancee and she pushed her into the river because her fiancee jumped into there, saying he could not take it, and in the scenario, Jordan could have saved him. But later she admit that she did not fall in love with Charlie because he was like her ex, but it was because he was him. Strong, kind and would never fail to make her smile. She adds that if she is absent and did not show up in a year, that doesn't mean she doesn't love him. But she is not yet healed. 

And the next day, Jordan came. She met an old man, saying that she was supposed to come yesterday but she was afraid. The old man asked if it was the same tree, but later finds out that it was not. The tree was replaced by a 'young man' and his friend because a while later this tree was shot by lightning and he said that 'it was important there is a tree here.' The old  man said he read her letter already, left her alone because he knows she's going to cry, and she did. 

In the letter, Charlie said that she would be the only women she would love, and said that he believes she is destined to be with him. 

Sometime later, Jordan meets her ex-fiancee's mother, asking her to meet someone that she wanted to set her up with last year, who she remained closed even prior to her ex-fiancee's death. She explains that she wanted to set her up quite a while ago, but never got by. As she begins to describe him, Charlie walks into the restaurant, revealing that he was his ex-fiancee's cousin. This is where they were surprised and eventually shared their first kiss, and he narrates that destiny is the bridge you built with the ones you love, and you would be the only one who could shape it. 

Review:

This is actually one of my favorite romantic comedy. Well it starts with Charlie, being the nicest guy you can ever, encounters the hard, drunk Jordan. If you haven't seen it, and is a fan of romantic comedies, this would be the movie for you. Well I keep this movie very personally, something I ought to do a lot. I mean a girl , meets this guy, very charming, handsome and very kind and she thinks that it is not the best thing to do because her fiance looks the same and is the same as the guy.

Well I guess this girl is very lucky because she met two guys who're different but in the same time the type where you should not ever let them go. I guess you can say that she's just a little bit obsessed, but you can't blame her. But it was very sad that her ex-fiance killed himself.

I guess My Sassy Girls is a delight, it's very light and it is one of the movies which you can just watch over and over again with your spouse, boyfriend, best friend etc. Where you can reminisce and ask if you can be the girl in that movie. It did imprint such on me. My former best friend was the one who asked me to watch this movie, and I guess she had great movie sense, and so do I.

I think I'd cut this review short, and I would like to ask anyone to try and watch it or include this on your Weekend Marathon. And by the way, I wrote the upper half last week at Kuala Kangsar, and the bottom half at Starbucks so good day to all :-)

Film Review: The Help (2011)

Title: The Help 

Genre: Drama, Comedy 

Language: English 

Running time: 146 minutes 

Distributed by: Walt Disney Studios, Motion Pictures 

Directed by: Tate Taylor 

Ratings: 8.5/10

Summary:

The Help is a 2011 American film adapted from the book, 'The Help' (2009). This film is placed in the 1960's about a young women, Eugena "Skeeter" Phelan who strives to write about equal rights among black people who was biased during the civil rights. 

Aibileen Clark is a 50 year old black woman who has spent most of his life, where she started her career as a black made as early of the age fifteen, and has recently lost his son. Minny Jackson, is another maid, one of Aibileen Clark's best friend, who has been fired in a number of times for her outspokenness, but is covered up by her fantastic cooking skills. Minny also has an abusive husband, Leroy, who has beaten her in a number of times. 

Eugena 'Skeeter' Phelan, is a young white woman, a writer and also has a degree. One of the things about her that everybody takes as a 'problem' is she has trouble finding a husband, or has trouble in dating. As she strives to begin her career as a writer, she has started to work as a columnist, giving out homemaker hints in the local newspaper. She has graduated from Ole Miss, and is blasphemed by her maids that has been working for her since her birth allegedly 'quits'. Skeeter is a little bit skeptical as she takes it as 'she could've  wrote to her. 

With her maid Constantine gone, she seeks help from her friend Elizabeth who has 'help' as they call it of her own is where she met Aibileen, for her help in writing about domestic problems. Skeeter is also uncomfortable with her friends' attitude on treating the maids, especially Hilly Holbrook and her "Home Help Sanitation Initiative" to not let colored maids use the bathroom inside the house and allegedly places it as "black people carries different diseases to white people." From the era of non-believers of equal rights, Skeeter is a little bit upset on how the blacks is treated in such disgust, where they can't hand-serve their food. 

Skeeter is committed on believing that everyone should have equality and wants to interview Aibileen on what does it mean to take care of white people that would grow up to be just like their mothers. The maids are first reluctant on talking to Skeeter, afraid that they might lose their jobs and worse. Aibileen was the one who shared her story, after hearing Hilly's initiative after realizes that the children she took care of would most likely grow and be just like their mothers. Her friend, Minny Jackson also joins forces as she was fired by Hilly, for using the bathroom inside the house because of a fierce storm outside. Hilly poisons all the minds of Jackson to not hire Minny, making it impossible to find work, and her daughter is forced to drop out of school to support their poor family and work as a maid, following her mother's footsteps. Minny initially declines to participate in Skeeter's book research, but later agrees to share her stories. Aibileen helps her find work with Celia Foote , who is married to a rich socialite, but is an outcast from the other society ladies (as influenced by Hilly), because she was born into a working-class family and her husband is Hilly's ex-boyfriend. Also, unlike Hilly, Celia treats Minny with respect.

Skeeter writes a draft of the book, with Minny and Aibileen's stories in it, and sends it to Miss Stein (Mary Steenburgen), an editor for Harper & Row in New York City, New York. Miss Stein thinks there may be some interest in it, but requires at least a dozen more maids' contributions before it can become a viable book. Believing that the book will only be publishable during the Civil Rights movement, which she believes is a passing fad, Stein advises Skeeter to finish the book soon. No one comes forward, until Medgar Evers is assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi, and Hilly's latest maid is brutally arrested (for attempting to pawn one of Hilly's rings, to pay for her twins' college tuition, after Hilly had refused to give her a loan). 

With racial tensions running high, the maids realize that Skeeter's book will give them an opportunity for their voices to be heard, and Skeeter suddenly has numerous stories to include. Minny shares one last story with Skeeter and Aibileen, which she calls the "Terrible Awful," to ensure that no one will reveal that the book was written about Jackson, Mississippi. As revenge for being fired and accused of stealing, Minny bakes a chocolate pie and delivers it to Hilly. After Hilly has finished two slices, Minny informs her that she has baked her own feces into the pie. Minny tells Aibileen and Skeeter that if they add that part into the book, Hilly will try to prevent anyone from figuring out that she made her eat human feces and will convince the town that the book is not about Jackson.

 The book is almost finished, except for Skeeter's own story of being brought up by Constantine. Skeeter manages to find out what had happened to Constantine, when her mother, Charlotte (Allison Janney), finally explains that she very reluctantly fired her in order to save face during a reception. Soon afterwards, feeling guilty about the incident since the Phelans are quite close to their help, Charlotte had sent Skeeter's brother to bring Constantine home from Chicago, Illinois, where she was living with her daughter Rachel, but he discovered that she had died, not long after leaving Jackson. However, Constantine's daughter forgives them knowing that the family they served genuinely loved them.

The book is accepted for publication and is a success, much to the delight of Skeeter and the maids. She shares her royalties with each of the maids who contributed, and is offered a job with a publishing company in New York City. She tells her boyfriend about the job and the book. Revolted by her ideas of racial equality, he immediately breaks up with her. Later in the afternoon, Hilly hatches a plan to get rid of Aibileen as Elizabeth's help, by falsely accusing her of stealing silver. 

Elizabeth tries to defend Aibileen, but to no avail. Aibileen denounces Hilly as a godless woman and tells her that she will never have peace if she continues her vindictive ways, leaving her in limbo. As Aibileen tries to convince Hilly and Elizabeth of her innocence, Elizabeth's daughter, Mae Mobley, arrives and pleads with her not to go. Elizabeth is forced to accept the firing of Aibileen, and Mae Mobley cries by the window, shouting for Aibileen as she leaves to start a new life.

Review:

I could say that this movie is one of my favorites. I like this movie because it does promote awareness and history of the world used to be that let me remind you that even in the twenty-first century, racism is still around and it is existent till now. 

One of my favorite actors is Emma Stone actually and I liked her in this one. I could say that she is an amazing actress and has wow-ed me in a lot of her works. And this is one of my favorites. I guess I like the setting of this movie, explains on how its like 50 years ago. 

And Minny's fried chicken made my mouth water and it was funny seeing Hilly eating her own shit. I laughed hard and I think Celia is a sweetheart and her husband is such a god. I think Hilly really places everything far. I guess she does not really know her limits and starts to play god because of her influence in money. And my dad would always say, but money in your hands not in your heart. I guess my dad is right sometimes. I guess a lot of times. 

So let me wrap this up that I reckon that The Help is a good movie that I think everybody should watch it. The Help is heart-warming, memorable and would exist and embed in your heads.

P/S: I'm sorry for the long summary, credits to wikipedia, and I didn't have any ideas on what to add about this movie. I could just say that it was an excellent one that deserved excellent ratings. 

Film Review: Monster University

Title: Monster University

Genre: 3D-computer animated comedy

Language: English 

Running time: 104 minutes

Distributed by:  Walt Disney Studios, Motion Pictures

Directed by: Dan Scanlon 

Ratings: 9/10 

Summary:

Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan are an inseparable pair, but that wasn't always the case. From the moment these two mismatched monsters met they couldn't stand each other. "Monsters University" unlocks the door to how Mike and Sulley overcame their differences and became the best of friends.

Review:

Well, I was a big fan of Monsters Inc. so this was a step up, resolving my whole childhood. It starts with a little Mike Wazowski, who is committed on becoming a scarer after a field trip to Monsters Inc once when he's in grade school. One of the gentleman that was a scarer, told how Monster University is where he learned and aced to become the ultimate scarer. 

I guess this was the best movie, next to World War Z that I saw this week. It really does bring all this memories that I simply like to be reminded of. Maybe there was something about it that attracted me on liking this movie. This movie is actually a prequel of Monsters Inc. 

There are a lot of things that you can adopt from this movie as for me, it felt like I am getting older, that all my younger days are all gone as everything is just so different now and I could not act like a kid anymore. I grew up watching Disney Pixar and I have enjoyed living in a state where I have grown. I guess when I was little I would kill to be in my current age now, but now, I would rather pick being a kid. Maybe this movie just reminds me that you can't really be satisfied with anything. (Sorry for teaching a life lesson whilst writing a movie review) 

But to aside every feelings that I call 'too-heavy', Monster University is a good movie, and it is as good as Monster Inc. And it was such a good strategy to make the prequel after thirteen years. So Disney Pixar, you got it all figured out, eh? And for those who grew up watching Disney, I guess you would feel the same. Now Disney is all with the crap tv-shows -- no more all of our classic favorites like Monster Inc. 

I could say that this will be added in all-time best i guess. So I hope it would be for yours too.

Film Review: World War Z

Title: World War Z 

Genre: Apocalyptic Horror, Action 

Language: English 

Running time: 116 minutes

Director: Marc Forster 

Distributed by: Paramount Pictures

Ratings: 7.5/10

Summary:

This story revolves on former UN agent, Gerry Lane who traverses the world in a race against time to stop a pandemic that is toppling armies and government and threatening to decimate humanity itself.  

(Short summary, I know) 

Review:

World War Z is for the zombie fanatics actually. I really enjoyed this movie when I watched it yesterday. I guess this movie kept  me thinking of the possibility that there would be a zombie apocalypse. I mean I think if there would be a zombie apocalypse, I would be the first one dead. But this would make me think that I need canned food and I need to have a bunker. 

I think somehow something's going to happen like a deadly virus that's going to make humans into the 'Undead'. But I guess it is just my opinion though. Well, ergo, I think that Brad Pitt's amazing in this one because he doesn't really do movies like this one. So this is different, good different though. 

I think I don't really have any dislikes in this movie, but of course I think that Gerry's kids is so fucking annoying.  "I WANT MY BLANKET!" was starting to mess with my head and make me hate her. But it was not such a big deal. 

I could say that I really like World War Z and I am starting to really get obsessed with the idea of zombies since I played L4D which I finished. 

(Short summary, I know)