They keep making us do kitchens! What’s up with that?! From the first time we touched computer graphics, with OpenGL coding nightmares, to the POV ray coding nightmares, to the currently fun Lightwave modelling… We keep making kitchens!

Here it is. My Kitchen Evolution.

OpenGL.

POV Ray.

Magic of Lightwave.

Hi everyone. I loved how movies like Batman and Cloverfield use viral marketing to spread their publicity. Well, here’s a shot in the dark from me.

No details as yet. Just this.

This is seriously one of the greatest undertakings I’ve ever umm… undertook. Err… yeah.

So stay tuned. This will either be very big, or it’ll blow up right in our faces.

I finally got a hold of the movie at Mustafa. Yes, I bought it. I’ve been wanting to watch it properly ever since that fateful day back in my NS life.

We were having night duties and the drivers loaded up Kuntilanak on the dvd player and blasted the 5.1 surround speaker with it. Yeah, they have all that shit in camp. With the rumours of a REAL Pontianak going around in camp, especially in level 3, auditorium, I was thinking that these guys are freakin’ crazy to watch it at night. And so the movie started with only 4 of us, if I remember correctly. Two infocomm guys and two drivers. The intro compelled me to stay and watch it through.

But then roughly 10 minutes into the movie, the rest of the drivers who went out came back. They made a ruckus. But after settling down with their food, cigarettes and hanging up their boots, quite a crowd had gathered at the ‘cage’ to watch the movie.

Then everything went downhill. They started pausing the movie, or slowing it down, NOT at the scary parts, but the sexy bits where Julie Estelle showed slightly more skin than usual. The DVD player has a zoom function and the crazy drivers played with that too. Everyone had a laugh now and then, but one thing for sure, the flow had broken, and I ended up not paying attention to the movie. I think I was half-occupied with playing someone’s PSP.

Ok, enough of that story, on to the…

KUNTILANAK REVIEW

I just finished watching it, so the stuff is fresh in my head. Firstly, the hype that made me wanna watch it properly came from several sources, namely Inkblot, who shares the appreciation of horror and scary movies. And a number of people who swore by the scary-ness of the movie.

As I watched it, I was keeping in mind Inkblot’s warning about the last 15 minutes, and how it’ll scare my balls off. But honestly, I found the little hints in the earlier part of the movie being the scariest parts. Albeit not THAT scary.

The parts when Mademoiselle Kuntilanak first made her glorious apperance… the little sneaks of her torso, hair, feet… her freakish movement… her combing of white hair… hints of her disfigured face… those things got me sitting up and watching intently.

As the story progresses, and I couldn’t really understand the language, I began to slouch down again and merely anticipate that last part Inkblot was talking about.

And so everything went on, and the finale came. The full figure of the ghost was seen. And there were even two little ones coming out to play with Julie Estelle.

The way I see it, once you show everything, you’ve got nothing else to show and for me, I’ll be thinking, “Oh, there’s the whole thing? Hmm, that ain’t so bad.”, instead of something like, “oh shit, that’s the freaking ghost, oh but where’d it go? woah shit… that’s scary!”, which happened in the first few appearances of the Kuntilanak.

And the movie closed its story, with Julie Estelle still having relations with the ghost. And lastly, a cheesy scare trick which again, was expected. Sigh. I really sighed at the end of it. I was expecting a sleepless night looking out my window every now and then and finally sleeping in the hall with the lights and TV on coz I’d be too scared. But instead, here I am, half sleepy and writing this review about a movie which is rather well made but just not scary enough.

Oh and I take back that part I said about it being well-made. There were some weird cuts made in the movie. I don’t know if it’s just the vcd but it sure looked like crap.

I just re-read Inkblot’s review on the movie, and I must say, sorry dude, it’s just not scary enough. I don’t know, maybe it’s the fact that the crazy driver dudes spoilt half the movie for me, or because of the fact that I’m expecting too much to be scared.

I do like the whole Mangkujowo (spelling?) mysticism and the Indon-Jawa feel to the whole thing. The sets, head on the mirror, art pieces, depicting that ancient Java look is pretty cool.

Well, this has been a really long review. I think I’ll stop here.
Kuntilanak, a movie that may scare some, but didn’t really work for me. I’m still waiting for the one.

I think I can say that this is one of the BEST monster movie I have EVER seen.

Okay, so it’s shot on a hand held videocam, ‘blair witch style’, they say, but still, this movie, or ‘footage’ freaking delivers man. It’s bloody awesome.

And the fact that it’s taken on a videocam makes it all the more believable.

The first part of the movie, which was the party, wasn’t as boring as I thought it would be. And when the shit starts to happen, you really feel like you’re there. Everything is so damn real! Intense to the core man!

Ok, the running while the camera’s on makes people dizzy and wanna puke, but I got to sit at the last seat of the cinema and to me, it ain’t that bad. There were only a few instances of the ‘running with camera’ thing.

Rob, Elena and that other chick.

The actors did a hell of a job. Very believable. And Beth is just drop dead gorgeous. Hudson, the cameraman, is just great, and *spoiler* Elena (dunno the spelling) was cool even as she was bit by the parasites, got infected and freakin’ burst inside out!

As for the monster(s), it was awesome as hell. All that hype and ‘leaked’ concept arts turn out to be fake. So when I saw the monster in the movie, I was taken aback. It was very original, I must say. Freaky too, to a certain extent.

I just love the movie. I just love this kinda things, whether it be ghosts, witches, monsters or aliens, these kinda live ‘real’ footages just really appeal to me.

I remembered I did something like this in JC, with a friend’s video cam, and it really looked real. We were having late night rehearsals and I decided to make this spontaneous and quick horror short film. Come to think of it, I guess it was really the first one I ever did.

Unfortunately, the video has gone missing as it wasn’t compiled or saved. But yeah, you get the idea right… I love this shit.

So, I give Cloverfield 10 stars. Really. I freakin’ LOVE it.

And not to forget, after we watched the movie, we saw two UFOs in the tampines sky. We followed them thinking they were kites, but we found no one manning them. Freaky.

Holy crap. I was reading thru my morning RSS feeds as usual when I saw the news reported on several sites across the net.

The man who plays Joker in the yet to release Batman movie… is dead.

He was found dead in his apartment. Reasons unknown. I know it’s not right to relate such a news to the publicity of the movie but I can’t help but remember some things he did to prepare himself for the Joker role.

It’s probably some other reasons but suicide/overdose seem to be the biggest suspects.

Well, that’s a shock. Damn.

This would be the most recent movie I caught in theatres, and it’s worth every buck.

You know there are some movies which seem draggy and you kept thinking what the hell is the point of showing us mundane conversations or irrelevant scenes? Well, they’re actually to add some realism to the movie, coz it’s probably set in a different time than ours.

We’ve seen it many times in stuff like Ali, Zodiac, Monsters’ Ball. But the effect gets through, coz you do believe that the movie is set in.. whenever the movie says its set.

American Gangster is also such a movie. So you can expect some draggy bits. But if you follow closely and optimistically, you’ll find it to be perfectly harmonised.

Denzel Washington. Every movie this guy acts in becomes gold. It’s either he picks which movie he wanna star in really carefully, or he just transforms whatever movie he starred in to an awesome film. Either way, he’s one of the reasons you gotta catch American Gangster.

Denzel plays Frank Lucas, a black man rising from a chauffeur of a notorious moneylender to a big boss of a massive drug syndicate. I just love this kinda ‘rise to power’ movies. I couldn’t help but compare this movie to greats like Scarface and Godfather. But I think Gangster can stand on its own.

Russel Crowe plays a cop who is as straight as he can ever be. In the time of corruption, he’s the very few who stood for true justice. It’s amazing how he couldn’t be tempted by all that offers.

Armand Assante was also in the movie, as some mob boss.

And all that linkage to Ali vs Joe Frasier, which reminds me of Will Smith’s Ali, is just great.

The movie starts rather messily, and you find yourself asking what’s going on for quite some time. But as the pieces fall together, it’s really an awesome experience.

I’d recommend it, if you got 2 hours 40 minutes to spare. Heh.

Hi all, it’s been a while. I’ve been wanting to write about this, so here it goes.

Stardust is a fairy tale with a very traditional take yet it’s so refreshingly new. I simply love the movie. I didn’t know it was starred by Claire Danes. If I did, I’d made a point to catch it in the theatres. But anywho, here’s some stuff I love about the movie.

1. Ian McKellen, the actor who played Gandalf and Magneto, did the narration of the movie.

2. The storyline, of course, is gem in itself. Seamless progressions and perfect timings of suspense and comedy. The story’s pretty simple. I mean, how complex can fairy tales be right? But its somehow very elegant.

3. Claire Danes. Oh, I’ve mentioned this already right?

4. Michelle Pfeiffer. Did I get the spelling right? But being so old, she’s still got it. But really, you get to see her getting really really OLD in this movie. Kinda gross.

5. When the credits roll, and I was wondering which genius came up with something so original yet so familiar, my question was answered when the name Neil Gaiman scrolled up the screen. Awesome.

6. Robert Deniro plays a very humourous role of the sky pirate. Just shows how great an actor he is.

7. Beautiful music score. It can make or break a movie.

8. Very Funny concept of princes. A screwed up dead king, and hilarious antics all through the movie.

It’s a fun, and memorable movie. I like it.

I think this holiday has gone to waste. In terms of productivity that is. All I got out of this month or so is one freelance job redesigning the website of a small clothing company. I guess its a pretty ok rate, having one job per holiday. I didn’t even update my own website, which is really lacking updates.

But on the plus side, this holiday is one of the most fun packed ones I’ve had in years. There’s really a lot going on within the few weeks.

I can’t remember all of them but here are some:

1. Gigs

I went to several gigs all around town. Some are really crap, but I managed to catch Monofone in one of them. They rocked, and made the wait worthwhile. Before they came up, there were some really crappy bands, and one band which I thought I liked, but after watching their antics, I began to dislike them. Fishtank really disappointed me.

But the highlight of the gigs is definitely Monofone!

Sponge ain’t too bad either.

2. Barbeque

Another massive gathering is the barbeque. It’s just plain fun, nothing much to say though.

I missed the ‘revelations’ session but it’s ok, the ‘ghost story’ telling session was pretty cool.

3. Jamming sessions

Inclusive of guitar sessions under the block. But there were a few jamming sessions which are really cool. Whether it’s bass, or guitars, rocking with full blast, without the constraints of home consideration, is just awesome.

Speaking of which, I’ve invested in the zoom G2.1u guitar effects pedal. I’d thought it sucked, but after exploring it and playing around with its features, I realised its super cool. Up till now, I’m still messing around with it to find the ‘perfect’ sound that suits my style, whatever that is.

4. Cage

And many soccer sessions. It’s the second time I played cage, and this time it was way more competitive. But all the same fun. We had lesser on-the-pitch time, coz there were more people this time round.

As for the multiple soccer sessions, they’ve worn my knees out big time. The kneecaps actually feel swollen after every game. And I began walking like an old man for a few days after that. Then when it’s ok, the cycle repeats. I just hope it doesn’t give way.

5. Motorcycle lessons

Returned to UBI for the final installment of the license collection series. Whahaha. Class Two baby! And it’s been nothing but BAD LUCK for me this time round. I squandered three lessons worth of money away for different suay reasons which I will definitely not mention here. I’m having second thoughts about completing the course, but I’m already at the evaluation. ARgh.

6. The usual chilling

And of course, the late nights chilling with friends. Maybe I should cut down on these, since my mornings have been really shitty.

And now for things I SHOULD have done:

1. Website Improvements and Updates:

Suadref Studios had accumulated a few more additions to be uploaded to the portfolio. And the design of the website could use a fresh look. But… the power of procrastination has taken over me!

2. Videos!

So many videos! All transferred, yes, but all not edited! Seeing how it’s hard to gather the group for screenings, I MIGHT be putting it up online and you guys can download and watch it on your own. But thanks to the power of procrastination, it’s STILL on hold, just taking up space on my hard disk.

3. The room.

Been wanting to revamp my room too. Reorganise the stuff, but well, I never got around to doing it.  But I did manage to clear my CDs yesterday! Threw out redundant CDs and re-packed the rest.

4. Comics

What’s the use of doodling in class when you don’t make a proper comic at the end of the day?! When there’s so much free time, I just don’t seem to be doodling or drawing comics, but when it’s smack mid of lessons in school, the hand and mind can simply drift off to the wonderful world of comicland.

Been wanting to try comicpress too, but NEVER GOT AROUND TO DO IT!

ANd many more.

It’s 2008 now, Happy New Year to All.

Hope this year makes all the difference in my life.