‘Jurassic World’ past 1.5 billion mark, and its sequel is confirmed!

I still couldn’t get rid of my current frustration and temper for the political tensions escalating right now in the country. If you missed out what I’m talking about now, just check out my previous blog post, written just two hours earlier. Now, let’s change the mood and talk a bit about movie. It’s not another movie review that may have quite dominate my blog in recent years. I would like to apologize if you are not that interested into my not-so-professional movie reviews all over my blog. I just found out that I love to write my opinions on movies of the year that I have watched in recent years. Not a serious movie critic, but just an interest in me that transformed into blog posts uncontrollably. Haha…sorry ya…

I believe most of you have watched ‘Jurassic World’ since its release over a month ago. If you haven’t, then you should go before it is going to be out from cinema soon. Everybody goes for the movie, and even my two very small nephews enjoyed it. It generally received positive reviews (from me too at this link: https://vincentloy.wordpress.com/2015/06/13/movie-review-jurassic-world-2015/) and is a smashing hit in worldwide box office. It successfully revoked the nostalgia in us, reminding us of the first Jurassic Park movie that we watched when we are still very young. The final fight scene in ‘Jurassic World’ is epic too…

‘Jurassic World’ is not only one of the over twenty films managed to score over US$ 1 billion in grossing, but also capable of becoming one of only four movies in the world that accumulated over US$ 1.5 billion in history. That’s just another milestone broke by ‘Jurassic World’, the fourth film of the popular ‘Jurassic Park’ film franchise that has broken many earlier box office records like biggest opening of all-time, fastest to 500 million, fastest to 1 billion, and now fastest to 1.5 billion. I guess it couldn’t go past 2-billion mark. It’s just seems very hard. Anyway, it’s still already a massive success story for ‘Jurassic World’ in both box office and in critics’ opinions.

With current box office figure stands at 1.542 billion, the movie now drives past ‘Furious 7’ (1.511 billion) to be the highest grossing film of the year. Up till today, it accumulated USD 624 million in domestic box office and an additional USD 918 million at international market. Terrific figures! ‘Jurassic World’ also triumphs over ‘The Avengers’ (1.519 billion) to become world’s third highest grossing film, only behind James Cameron’s untouchable ‘Avatar’ (2.78 billion) and ‘Titanic’ (2.18 billion). I guess the final box office intake of ‘Jurassic World’ would be well over 1.6 billion as it is still performing well in US and is not even opened yet in Japan.

Another good news is that the sequel for this highly successful ‘Jurassic World’ is confirmed and will be out by June 22nd, 2018. Main cast, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard will be returning. Awesome! Can’t wait for more actions from the dinosaurs (and that two main stars) on the big screen! Now I’m wondering what would be the story in this sequel is about? Remember that the villainous scientist, Dr. Wu managed to get off the troubled island with the dinosaur embryos in ‘Jurassic World’. How can the park’s authority able to restore public confidence on the island’s safety after the tragic event in ‘Jurassic World’? And how about those escaped flying dinosaurs? Wouldn’t they reached mainland already and create further chaos? And lastly, what would they name the sequel as? ‘Jurassic Park’, ‘Jurassic World’ and then? ‘Jurassic Universe’? Haha…Or simply just ‘Jurassic World 2’? Too many questions now…And I want to see more from mosasaur. Can’t wait for two more years!

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Sir Run Run Shaw (1907-2014)

Hong Kong entertainment mogul, Sir Run Run Shaw (邵逸夫) passed away today at the age of 106. He is popularly known as ‘六叔’ (Uncle Six) in Chinese-populated regions in Asia Pacific. Still didn’t know who he is? Well, he was the founder of Shaw Brothers Studio, a very famous production company in Hong Kong and also one of the largest in the world. He also founded Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), the dominating television company in Hong Kong from its start to the present days for almost five decades. Not as a mean of disrespect, but I have been curious all the time as I find his name in English is a bit weird (called Run Run Shaw). Anybody could answer me that? Anyway, that’s not important. His success story is more important.

Without him, there wouldn’t be Shaw Brothers, the company behind many past successful Hong Kong trademark films. Without him, there wouldn’t be TVB too, that offers us countless of Cantonese television programmes and dramas since almost half a century ago. Under his leadership in the past, both Shaw Brothers and TVB had also been acting as strong platforms to produce many Asian superstars till these days like Maggie Cheung, Chow Yun-fat, Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui, Stephen Chow, Tony Leung, etc. As the ‘father’ of TVB and a pioneer of Hong Kong’s entertainment industry, his contribution was beyond boundary.

He was born in year 1907, at the time when emperor still rules the country. He initially started his business venture at Singapore to market films to Chinese community in South East Asia. That was in late 1920s. Then his business expanded to Malaya (now Malaysia, my country) with opening of over a hundred cinemas by 1940. He and his brother had also established Malay Film Productions in Singapore. That was his early years of success. By 1957, he went to Hong Kong which was the centre of the Chinese film industry at the time and established the Shaw Brothers a year later. From there on, he settled in Hong Kong. In 1960s, Shaw Brothers was noted as Asia’s biggest movie producer. In 1967, he co-founded TVB, the first free-to-air TV station in Hong Kong, and growing it into a multi-billion dollar TV empire. He had also established Shaw Prize, annual international awards  for scientists in three areas of research, namely astronomy, mathematics, and life and medical science. The prize, known as the ‘Nobel Prize of the East’ first started in 2004.

He only retired in 2011 at the age of 104. To recognize and honour his contribution, he had been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1974 and received knighthood in 1977 from Queen Elizabeth II and the Grand Bauhinia Medal (GBM) from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government in 1998. He had also been awarded several honorary degree from various universities. In 2007, in conjunction with his 100th birthday, he was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award at Hong Kong Film Awards. Just on December last year, he received the prestigious British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Special Award for his outstanding contribution to cinema.

I used to see him appearing on several TVB shows few years back, usually in awards ceremony and for the station’s anniversary gala celebration. He would be sitting on the front row (definitely) and was accompanied with former Miss Hong Kong pageant. In recent years, he was no longer attending these shows due to his old age. Well, he is certainly blessed to have live such a long and fruitful life. It’s so hard to live over 100 years old. That’s over a century. He must have witnessed a lot of things in his life. His death today must have been a heartbreaking news to countless Hong Kong artists whom individually found success under him. Nevertheless, his legacy as the ‘Godfather of the Chinese Silver Screen’ will be forever remembered. May he rest in peace.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Michelle Yeoh honored at Asian Film Awards 2013

Michelle Yeoh, an international-acclaimed star is a Hong Kong based Malaysian actress if you don’t know anything about her. She is best known for performing her own stunts in Hong Kong action films that brought her to fame in early 1990s. She is also famous especially in Western world for her roles in 1997 James Bond film, ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ as Bond female sidekick and lover, Wai Lin and also in multiple Academy Award-winning Chinese language martial arts film ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ for which she was nominated in BAFTA at 2000 for best actress.

At the recent annual Asian Film Awards held at Hong Kong, Michelle Yeoh is awarded with Excellence in Asian Cinema Trophy, which is the most prestigious recognition presented on that particular night. The award is presented to honour Michelle Yeoh’s immense contribution to the Asian cinema for over two decades and also bringing Asian cinema to world class stage. In her acceptance speech, she mentioned that she waited for this award for so long and that she was happy to receive this award at Hong Kong, the place where her career started while also mentioning her birth country, Malaysia. She is from Ipoh, Malaysia. She is now 50 years old but still looks very outstanding. This award doesn’t means that she needs to retire, but as an indication that there would be more filming opportunities for this highly talented star.

(Image source: http://media.kansascity.com/smedia/2013/03/18/21/20/525-xqMIk.St.55.jpeg)

Sammo Hung presented the trophy along with few others to Michelle Yeoh. The Chinese melodrama ‘Mystery’ was named best film at the event, which also saw two stars from the Philippines taking home the main acting prizes. Nora Aunor, 59, was named best actress for Thy Womb, while 87-year-old Eddie Garcia was named best actor for Bwakaw. Best director goes to Takeshi Kitano for ‘Outrage Beyond’. The AFA Presentation Ceremony takes place as part of the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong Opening Gala. Eminent filmmakers and superstars from around the world are invited to bestow awards upon the winner(s) of each category, making the ceremony a dazzling extravaganza as well as an influential cultural event.

Let’s move back our highlight on Michelle Yeoh. She is the only Malaysian actress with a star at the Hong Kong’s Avenue of Stars, as well as the only Malaysian to reach such a great height in film industry on international scale. Her notable films are ‘Police Story 3: Supercop’, ‘The Heroic Trio’, ‘Tai Chi Master’, ‘Wing Chun’, ‘The Soong Sisters’, ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’, ‘Moonlight Express’, ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’, ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’, ‘Reign of Assassins’, ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’, and ‘The Lady’. Overall, she had starred in over 35 films to date. She is a former Miss Malaysia beauty pageant and is the only Asian actress to be listed as one of the all-time screen beauties by People’s Magazine. Last but not least, a big congratulation to Michelle Yeoh for taking this award and making Malaysia proud once again!

Information source:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21827482

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Yeoh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Film_Awards

 

My pick of 5 most famous film directors of my generation

Once we mentioned on a particular movie, we would talked about the story or the plot, the casts involved and their performance, the visual effects and music scores, the script, and even details of certain unforgettable scenes in that film. However, have you thought of the director of the film whom actually made it work? Director’s contribution to film is certainly not to be neglected. For me, to be honest, I have not heard many names of film directors even when they have directed many films before. I believe that applies to almost everyone else. Right? But I don’t know from when onwards, I started to check out who is the director for that particular great film, so that I can follow up on his or her future movies that would be very much promising in expectation.

Here, I would like to honour five most famous film directors of my generation. The first five names of directors that came to my mind when I wish to write on this topic. Who do you think might get into the list? Well, well, well…these five directors are certainly very famous, and have directed some of the world’s most well-known or epic films up to date. You must have known them. Even if you don’t, you would certainly have had watched their movies before. Here it is, my top 5 picks (only restricted within Hollywood film industry);

1. Steven Spielberg

In a career of more than four decades, his films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg’s early science-fiction and adventure films which are very much successful were seen as archetypes of modern Hollywood blockbuster film-making. He is considered one of the most popular and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Besides than being a film director, he is also a screenwriter, producer, studio entrepreneur and is one of the co-founders of DreamWorks movie studio. He had won Academy Awards for Best Director twice. His notable films are Jaws, E.T., Indiana Jones franchise, first two Jurassic Park films, War of the Worlds.

2. James Cameron

Two of the world’s highest grossing films up to date, Titanic and Avatar were directed by James Cameron. That’s amazingly serious. Both films are also the only films in history that gross over 2 billion each. Besides than being a film director, he is also a film producer, deep-sea explorer, screenwriter, visual artist and editor. Described by a biographer as part-scientist and part-artist, Cameron has also contributed to underwater filming and remote vehicle technologies. He had won Academy Awards for Best Director for Titanic. His notable films are Titanic, Avatar, Aliens, Terminator 1 and 2. Despite directing much lesser films, but his films are usually lengthy, of certain great quality and captures critical acclaim and worldwide attention.

3. Christopher Nolan

He is known for directing big-budget films that are in much darker or complex tones which is widely praised by movie critics. As one of the most accomplished filmmakers in this generation, he had directed The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Memento, The Prestige and several other films. His direction or approach in films are mostly receiving overwhelming positive reviews as his films which is deem intellectual and moving dwells into much deeper and impacting state that were able to fascinate the audiences through variety of movie elements.

4. Michael Bay

Well, to be honest, he is so famous because of Transformers franchise. So far, he had directed three films under Transformers franchise (the very popular robotic wars in motion pictures that generated worldwide phenomenon), and it seems that he would continue for a fourth instalment soon. He is known for directing high-budget action films characterized by their fast edits, stylistic visuals and substantial practical special effects. His other notable films are Armageddon and Pearl Harbor.

5. Roland Emmerich

Many of you might not have heard his name before, but he is the man behind many famous disaster films that ‘rocked’ the world, namely Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012. He had also directed Godzilla, 10 000 BC and several other films. His films which usually came with many intense moments are very much enjoyable despite being criticized for being bad in developing storyline and character’s depth.

 

What are your top five picks for your most favourite film directors of this generation?

(All images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web) 

List of films released in 2012 that I have watched.

This year, I find myself not entering into cinema much already. This year, it seems that I had lesser opportunity to go out with friends or family for movies, and I watched most of the films at home. Furthermore, it appears that there are lesser number of interesting films released this year compared to previous year. In 2011, I broke record of having to have watched highest number of films released within that particular year at 66. Looking at my performance this year, I couldn’t manage to break that record set last year.

Of course, majority of the films released in 2012 that I have watched are mostly Hollywood as usual. Here below are the list of films in 2012 that I have watched along with a star-rating awarded (out of 5) from my perspective.

Hollywood films: (my personal top 10 favourites are in bold)

1. The Grey ***

2. Man on a Ledge ****

3. Chronicle ***

4. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island ****

5. Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance ***

6. This Means  War ***

7. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax ***

8. John Carter **

9. The Hunger Games ****

10. Mirror Mirror **

11. Wrath of the Titans ***

12. The Cabin in the Woods ***

13. The Avengers *****

14. Dark Shadows **

15. The Dictator ***

16. Battleship ****

17. Snow White and the Huntsman ****

18. Piranha 3DD ***

19. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted ***

20. Prometheus ****

21. Brave ***

22. Ted **

23. The Amazing Spider-man ***

24. Ice Age 4: Continental Drift ***

25. The Dark Knight Rises ****

26. Total Recall *****

27. Paranorman ***

28. Resident Evil: Retribution ***

29. Hotel Transylvania ****

30. Skyfall ****

31. Life of Pi ****

32. Bait **** (Australian film)

33. Wrong Turn 5 ***

34. The Collection ***

35. The Impossible *****

36. Sinister ***

37. Wreck-it Ralph ****

38. Upside Down ****

39. Frankenweenie ****

40. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey ****

41. The Dinosaur Project ****

42. The Bourne Legacy ***

43. Rise of the Guardians ****

44. Red Dawn ****

45. Home Alone 5: The Holiday Heist ****

46. The Aggression Scale ****

Hong Kong films: (my personal top 3 favourites are in bold)

1. All’s Well, Ends Well 2012 ***

2. I Love Hong Kong 2012 *****

3. Romancing in Thin Air ***

4. The Viral Factor ****

5. CZ 12 ***** (my personal most favourite in this category)

6. Mr and Mrs Gambler ****

Malaysian film: (watched only one)

1. Ah Beng The Movie: Three Wishes ***

And so the list ended. That’s it. Yes, that’s it. After a simple calculation including also the films that I am going to watch soon,  the total of films released in 2012 that I have watched stood at only 53 as of current. My previous year’s total is 68. That is like a huge difference. I watched 15 lesser films this year compared to last year which saw release of more interesting movies that are up to my favourites. Not to say that this year’s films are bad, but maybe the main reason is that I myself seldom go for movies this year and that I skipped quite a lot of potentially interesting movies this year due to certain reasons (lesser outings, tired everyday after work, prefer to stay at home every weekends, etc). Anyway, it is no doubt that I still watched quite a lot of films every year. Watching movies are my favourite hobby. It’s relaxing and comfortable, and at the same time, might taught us a lesson or two from the film itself too. It’s one of my greatest sources of entertainment.

So, based on my personal opinions, the top three most favourite Hollywood films of the year would be:

1. The Avengers

2. The Dark Knight Rises

3. Total Recall

So, the two superhero films topped my list of favourites. They are brilliant films. The Avengers is so exciting that it’s like a thrilling ride when watching this movie that gathers several Marvel’s superheroes together in mission to save the world. The Dark Knight Rises is another big production and one of the most anticipated films of the year. It didn’t disappoint and it serves very well to the conclusion of this franchise. Total Recall made it into my top 3 list mainly because it’s adrenaline rushing all the way till the end watching this movie. It’s exciting, and full of action-packed sequences that steals the show. It turns out that my top 2 favourites (The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises) are also the two highest grossing films of the year with The Avengers becoming the third highest grossing film of all time. You can also check out my movie review to each particular films I listed down in my blog here if you are interested. Looking forward to 2013’s films by now.

(All images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

– Post updated on April 2013.

Films in 2010 that I have watched… (UPDATED – 3/4/2011)

I decided to write this post up because it seems that I watched quite a lot of movies this whole year which is going to end very soon. I have watched these movies, mainly from the cinemas, the dominating Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) found everywhere in KL, and not to forget Tanjong Golden Village (TGV) cinemas. For some movies, I can’t make it to cinema, but still purchasing blu-ray disc of those movies would be a good option as I’m watching those movies quite late to wait for the time when I’m free from my semester study.

Furthermore, it seems that I have written a lot of movie reviews throughout this year. As soon as I have watched a particular movie, I would definitely write a post to review on it as soon as I got back home. Countless of reviews, and even including my rating for the movies based on my perceptions. Definitely my reviews are not as good as those from IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, etc…all my reviews in this blog here are just to express my thoughts and opinions…remember, everyone have different opinions…

Ahh…well, these are the films released in 2010 that I have watched…I need to refer on the list of films released in 2010 from internet to recall back on how many movies released in 2010 that I have watched. There might be a probability that I forgot to mention some movies that I have watched, since it is hard for me to actually recall all. Anyway, this is the list of the movies released in 2010 that I have watched. (not in order)

American and UK films (English Language): (34 out of countless number of films released in 2010….my top 10 favourites are bolded)

The Spy Next Door

Frozen

The Crazies

The Human Centipede

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Iron Man 2

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

The Karate Kid

Toy Story 3

Knight and Day

The Last Airbender

Despicable Me

Predators

Inception

Salt

Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

Piranha 3D

Resident Evil: Afterlife

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole

Red

Buried

Saw 3D

Skyline

127 Hours

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1)

The Next Three Days

Unstoppable

Tangled

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Gulliver’s Travel

Yogi Bear

The King’s Speech

The Social Network

The Tourist

Hong Kong films (Cantonese): (13 films I have watched in 2010, not many interesting HK films this year…my top five favourites are bolded)

72 Tenants of Prosperity

All’s Well, Ends Well 2010

The Child’s Eye

Ip Man 2

The Jade and the Pearl

Just Another Pandora’s Box

La Comedie Humaine

Perfect Wedding

The Legend is Born – Ip Man

Legend of the Fist – The Return of Chen Zhen

Adventure of the King

Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame

Dream Home

Singapore films: (2 films so far….one of it is picked as my favourite which is bolded)

Phua Chu Kang: The Movie (English)

Kidnapper (Mandarin)

Thai films: (1 film only, since it is very hard for us in not understanding the Thai language spoken in Thai movies)

The King Cobra (Thai)

Malaysian film: (only watched one, and it is considered good already, there is only one Malaysian-Chinese film released in 2010)

Tiger Woohoo (Cantonese, Hokkien, etc) … the Chinese New Year themed movie for 2010…I’m currently anticipating for CNY themed movie for 2011 called as Great Day…have to support since it is a Malaysian production)

So..quite a long list, right? Wah…I have watched 50 movies released in 2010, not to mention some others that are released in other years but I just watched those this year….must be reaching over 60. Quite a movie addict then…haha…I like to watch movies, of course must be interesting and exciting to get my attention….You may check out the reviews that I have written for each of the movies listed above in my previous posts. Go search it, easy steps to browse through on all the movie reviews, including all the posts I have written in 2010, 2009, and 2008! Might be harder if you are checking on all, because my blog here had over 500 posts since its’ creation in late 2008.