could this be it

2010-04-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

why oh why do you say so little?

updated. :)

2009-10-05T07:15:00.000-07:00

i was going through some of my old issues of Guitar World Acoustic and i decided to read the one with Devendra Banhart on the cover. it's march issue 2007. the article "folk's freakiest" is amazing! they listed the 25 most influential folk artist of all time. anyway this guy..Davy Graham was on the top spot. i youtubed him and the fucker is good. this is one of his instrumental songs.

and one with Shirley Collins.

and 24 more to go! i'll admit the only bands/people on that list that i listen to are iron and wine, nick drake, and devendra.

i started watching mel brooks' movies recently. jessica introduced him and his movies to me. not like he's alive or anything. ok he is. but em. nvm. fucking funny i tell you..his movies. dracula : dead and loving is superb. young frankenstein is even better. these are how spoof movies are meant to be made! it's all on youtube in case you're interested.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold..i like.

2009-06-06T23:36:00.000-07:00

my first listen to korngold was on youtube. barely a month ago. the sea hawk score. the charles gerhardt recording actually. but it was reeally good. i can see where john williams, elmer bernstein, and the rest of the greats get their inspiration from. i then downloaded the adventures of robin hood score also by korngold. it was bloody sweet. epic as epic can be. and to think he did the album in 1937+. i also got a hold of the original recording of the sea hawk. of course it was awesomer than the gerhardt version. all the stuff that i listen to which i consider epic or somewhat..is NOTHING compared to the shite that korngold does. the odd thing is..he only has scored around 15 movies. before that, he was back in Europe doing chamber, concert, and opera works. in 1936, he won an oscar for his work in Anthony Adverse. he is also known for kickstarting Errol Flynn's carrier when he scored Captain Blood in 1935. flynn 'followed' him through The Prince and the Pauper, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Private Lives Of Elizabeth Essex, The Sea Hawk, and Escape Me Never. his composition of romantic themes are so well written. i now need to get some of his early works..before he came to america..chamber stuff.. by the way..anyone interested in his work can look up scoredaddys.blogspot.com. a superb site for great music.

"Music is music whether it is for the stage, rostrum or cinema .
Form may change , the manner of writing may vary, but the composer needs to make no concessions whatever to what he conceives to be his own musical ideology ....."
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (interviewed in 1946)

MR

terminator salvation. and the score.

2009-05-30T06:49:00.000-07:00

watched terminator today. had the worst seats in gardens. front row. but the movie was A-mase-ing!! i couldn't blink for one bloody second, that's how good it was. i'm guessing the writers wrote more than enough, which is why the movie's constantly.. moving! i'm not even gonna compare it to the 3rd one, which was a waste of time. mcg definitely has more than redeemed himself for the shit that he did in the past which is charlie's angels and the even more retarded sequel, charlie's angels: full throttle. i like the colour choice he chose for this movie, the bleak look, which shows how the future might look. everything wasn't all shiny and new. haha, of course. everything actually had the blown up look.

why is it that the misses almost wasn't in the movie. it's like she's got almost no screen time. no abilities other than being john connor's wife. she plays a pretty big role in how john connor became who he is in the movie. the only thing i could 'get' from her was that she's mentally strong, as was everyone in the movie. and she's a medic. so little screen time. damn.

christian bale is fiTTT. ok, that sounds gay. every time he shouts in the movie, i remember him yelling during the production set. the 'scandal' as ping lon calls it. christian of course is awesome as john connor. gritty as fuck. his human side is always trying to rise to the surface. but shit keeps happening so...almost always..just gritty. human side.. why did i say that? not like he has a machine side to him. or does he? *cue the terminator theme*

anyway, i heard quite a few people didn't like it, why's that? is it because the focus is not entirely on john connor? or the fact that danny elfman, the composer 'refucktalized' the score and the theme (Brad Fiedel) created is not used in salvation. only the jah jah jah jah jah is used..rarely too. not gonna say when..cos that will spoil it for you. i feel the score was pretty good and suited the movie very well.. and stands quite well by itself. track 5, freeside, has only 2 guitars, i like it quite a bit. the rhythm sound a bit like SOAD's 'Question'. gives the movie a different feel. hey, i'm not saying that this score is better than terminator 1 or 2. because this is a totally different movie. and needed a different base to work with. danny provided it. there's hope and inspiration when you listen to this score..that's the main reason why i enjoy listening to it. there isn't a main tune or something you can hum along too. but each track, by itself says something different. it shifts from the destruction to a glimpse of any hope to a sort of freedom..and it inches through very slowly..that's the magic of it. i never was a big fan of danny's music. but recently, milk, and this changed my perception of him. before i was like, ''i know he's good but i just can't seem to sit through an entire score''. well that's changed. anyway, i can't wait for what he does for ang lee's taking woodstock. i hope the music will be as trippy and hippy as the trailer is.

MR

jeff beck live at ronnie scott's!!

2009-05-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

jeff beck is simply brilliant. he can make any sound come out of his ax and make it sound like .. how i think heaven would sound like. i can only compare him to satriani but jeff's sound isn't as clean as his. but he manages to get a different sort of feel out of the sound..and his tone is just...fuck. if that makes any sense.. and this live gig proves yet again that he is a true guitar god. there are many cameos in ronnie's..both on stage..and in the crowd..haha..

his band complements the shite out of him....Vinnie Colaiuta, the drummer has been on 500 albums..the bassist girl, Tal Wilkenfeld is relative of Jeff's, i read somewhere. well that makes sense..cos she plays like she's just jamming out..and she's amazing..and she's just 22. anyway, i'll stop talking. here are some of my favourites from the gig. and please watch them all in HQ:-}

Angel Footsteps.

with Imogen Heap. Blanket.

Behind the Veil.

featuring Eric Clapton!! You Need Love & Where Were You

A Day In the Life. sweet sounds ringing from his guitar...

you can check out the rest on youtube. i hope he comes to Malaysia. by the way, my second name's Raj.

MR

live stuff from Makali...wooo!!

2009-05-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

their most popular song.

Mais Bon!

new stuff.

they finally released their first album. all i've heard are songs from their myspace page. 6 songs. all brilliant by the way. so i'm sure the rest of the songs on the album will be too.

(not the album cover. but still, pretty cool right!)

wooo!!

more trailers.

2009-05-21T10:25:00.000-07:00

whatever works trailer. saweet!

Nine trailer. nine is about a director who's going through mid life crisis while balancing the nine women who are in his life. the film starrs daniel day lewis, penelope cruz (the mistress), nicole kidman (his film star muse), marion cotillard (his wife), judi dench (costume designer), kate hudson (american fashion journalist), sophia loren (mother), and fergie (whore from his youth). the movie is a musical directed by rob marshall (chicago).

taking woodstock. ang lee is directing this one. and danny elfman is scoring it. the film's about a man working at his parents' motel in the Catskills who inadvertently sets in motion the generation-defining concert in the summer of 1969. for those who haven't heard of woodstock, google it. emile hirsch (into the wild), liev schreiber (the new sabretooth), and paul dano (little miss sunshine) are in it.

the hangover. a new comedy from the director of old school. looks like a super fun movie. nice cameo at the end.

sherlock holmes. guy ritchie directs, hans zimmer scores, and filled with a superb cast. not as great as the cast of 'nine'. but still.. robert downey jr, jude law, rachel mcadams (oh man!), and MARK STRONG. yes, hani salam and the famous back slapper is back!! the trailer is shot like an action movie..with slow mo's and zimmer's music, i'm guessing. even before his name popped up before the credits, i was thinking ''why does the music remind me of hans zimmer?''.

shepherd's pie and paper heart.

2009-04-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

my sister came back this weekend. her semester's now over. so it's all good. she decided to make something..cook something. she mentioned her friend made shepherd's pie and it was great. so we looked up a recipe and started getting started.

8 or so hours later..

would have been better with less potatoes and more mutton. i just had three slices and was sooo full! the potatoes of course did that. eugene/my neighbour came over too. big surprise. haha! just kidding.

paper heart. looks good. i just found out the two leads, michael cera and charlyne yi are a couple in real life. charlyne also co-wrote the script and is doing the music for the movie.

when i first saw her in knocked up, i thought she was seriously on drugs or something..which was her character there.. then in this movie..she's the same..haha. and michael cera is perfect with the brand of comedy he does. what is it called? off beat? straight faced? quirky? whatever it's labelled..he's really good.

photos. because i haven't put any.

2009-04-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

trailers.

2009-04-21T01:02:00.000-07:00

franklyn. i actually don't know anything about the movie. eva green's in it though. everyone is saying it's like dark city, which i haven't seen. dark, futuristic, noir feel to it.

next we have 500 days of summer. romantic comedy with joseph gordon-levitt and zooey deschanel. something tells me the movie's gonna have great music.

he could definately play heath ledger in some biopic in the future. ''i don't wanna get over her, i wanna get her back''.

funny people. judd apatow comedy with adam sandler, seth rogen, eric bana, and the other usual apatow clan.

jack back, michael cera, paul rudd, christopher mintz-plasse, hank azaria....this is....YEAR ONE.

will ferrel is back with ''land of the lost''. trailer looks good. i just hope it doesn't turn out to be a kids movie or something.

michael mann directs johnny depp, christian bale, and marion cotillard (''thank you life, thank you love, it is true there is some angels in this city''), channing tatum, dr. manhattan, and more. johnny is playing the main role in this one..christian, only plays the secondary character i think. public enemies.

whatever works is an upcoming movie by woody allen. it starrs larry david and patricia clarkson. it's evan rachel wood's first comedy and she's getting to work with woody allen. wow. seriously, she's an amazingly talented actress and incredibly georgous too. let's just take a look at some of the previous films that she's done. thirteen, pretty persuasion, down in the valley, running with scissors, king of california, across the universe, and the most recent, the wrestler. all brilliant movies. she's only 22 and she's already worked with edward norton, julie taymor, ron howard, cate blanchett, tommy lee jones, kevin costner, michael douglas, darren aronofsky, annete bening, and of course al fuckin' pacino. imagine that.

there's no trailer for the movie yet. so here are some pictures on set.

with henry cavill from 'the tudors'.

brokeback mountain

2009-04-20T07:03:00.000-07:00

i watched brokeback mountain recently. very touching movie. and i watched it on a bluray copy..so it was even more marvelous. i'm sure most people have already seen it so i'm not gonna do some critical review or something.

heath ledger played ennis del mar brilliantly. i don't know how ang lee did the audition process but it was the perfect choice. the gay scenes, i have to say, look very animalistic! haha..

the soundtrack is amazing and very fitting. before this, i never was a fan of country music..but the selection was amazing. my favourite was teddy thompson's "i don't wanna say goodbye", emmylou harris' "a love that will never grow old". i know when i'm obsessed with something. i start you tubing like crazy till my eyes get tired and shutdown. this was literally what happened. emmylou has 12 grammy's. shit. she's been alive since..a long time. and rufus wainwright also sings on the ost.."the maker makes". amazing stuff. and of course gustavo's score won best score for the oscars. when i first popped the disc into my pc..the menu appeared with this beautiful music playing in the background. so my expectations increased just a tiny bit. haha.

and the score has a basic theme but expands slowly, adding strings to it. my favourite piece is the last track on the ost, ''the wings''.

this movie was actually a blind buy for me. wasn't playing on buying..but i don't know. i guess something drew me to it.

this is one of teddy thompson's. not from the movie. ''tonight will be fine''.

2009-01-16T20:15:00.000-08:00

films i watched recently.

the golden globes is now over. how can a movie like slumdog win best movie? i saw it. it wasn't that great. but then the others, i haven't seen yet. so, how would i know? Rahman's score for slumdog won. the score is pretty good. with him singing few tracks and featuring other artists too. he uses a different formula than other composers. he once said in an interview that music should be created to make an impact and make people dance. adding that what today's composer's practice, excessive minimalism and ambient music, shouldn't be used in films. i disagree 100% on this point. not all films require a thematic approach to the score. it does not have to be earth shattering either. this is not to say the dark knight's score is too 'loud' or 'thematic'. it's supposed to be like that. that's what the movie needs (in my humble opinion).

listen to entire benjamin button score online. TDK score disqualified for oscars.

2008-11-28T23:00:00.000-08:00

you can now listen to the whole score of benjamin button online. benjamin button is nominated for best original score at the oscars and warner brothers is trying to promote it. here's the link, http://warnerbros2008.warnerbros.com/bafta/#/movies/thecuriouscaseofbenjaminbutton/score/score1

also, sad news. the dark knight score has been rejected by the academy for nomination. on the music sheets, there were 3 other names listed besides james and hans. the acedemy rules that at least 70% of the work must be by the two composers. hans and james listed three others on the official sheet, telling Variety Daily that they did so in order to qualify them for royalties.

what will be the 50 biggest films of 2009?

2008-11-26T22:09:00.000-08:00

according to the australian.

IS there a 2009 film that will equal the success of The Dark Knight? Which franchise will step up to fill the spaces left by Batman, Bond and Indy?

The Times has taken a look through the studio schedules and picked out the most promising prospects for the coming year. History tells us that when times are tough, box office takings boom. Here’s our selection of the best films Hollywood has to offer us in 2009.

Do you agree with our selection? What have we missed? Have your say in the comments.

50: The Pink Panther 2 (February 2009)

Moviegoers might well be tempted by the impressive cast lining up for this wholly unnecessary sequel to a completely superfluous continuation of the once mighty comedy franchise. Steve Martin, Jean Reno, John Cleese and Andy Garcia may be acting greats, but for signing up to this they should hang their heads in shame.

49: Friday the 13th (February)

Back to Camp Crystal Lake again. The twelfth (couldn’t they have made it 13?) Friday the 13th movie is apparently a remake of the first film in the venerable teen slasher series, so long-time fans will have a fair idea what to expect. Probably not the ideal date movie for February 14.

48: Red Sonja (No release date announced)

Despite months of rumour about a new Conan movie, it’s his female counterpart Red Sonja who seems to be returning to the big screen first. There's some confusion about a release date for this film although the generally reliable IMDB has it hitting screens in late 2009. Planet Terror and Sin City director Robert Rodriguez re-teams with Grindhouse alumna Rose McGowan, who seems a somewhat unlikely choice as the Xena-type who fights her way across a sword-and-sorcery Hyborian landscape wearing as little as the censors will allow.

47: Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian (May)

A repeat of 2006’s ‘museum comes to life’ cameo jamboree with more or less everyone except Robin Williams back at the end of May to ham it up for the entertainment of young and undemanding cinemagoers. The film will need something very special in terms of advance reviews to give it any commercial visibility in what promises to be a very busy month at the movies. Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson and Ricky Gervais are already crossing their fingers.

46: Fast & Furious (June)

Fourth in the franchise but (and pay attention, there will be a test) occupying the number three slot in the series narrative, the movie will take the story back to its very beginnings. Paul Walker and Vin Diesel reunite in the franchise that inspired a million minor motoring offences.

45: Spy Hunter (no release date announced)

Video game adaptations are rarely beloved of the cinema cognoscenti and there’s little likelihood that Spy Hunter will break that honourable tradition. The game is a fairly routine ‘heavily armed spy and supercar’ adventure distinguished only by a voice and motion capture contribution from Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson who, one imagines, must be favourite to play the lead in what we can safely assume will be an undemanding popcorner. Englishman Paul WS Anderson, of Alien vs Predator and Resident Evil fame, is slated to direct.

44: Nine (December)

In a year packed with remakes, this is perhaps the bravest of all: taking on Fellini’s hugely influential 8½ but going just that little bit further, it’s the behind-the-scenes story of an Italian movie director featuring a stellar cast (Including Nicole Kidman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Sophia Loren, Penelope Cruz and Dame Judi Dench), some of whom will be singing. The purists will be furious, the rest of us merely sceptical. Mamma Mia it isn’t.

43: Knowing (March)

A teacher (Nicolas Cage) opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions - some that have already occurred and others that are about to - that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are due to unfold.

42: Them (no release date announced)

Them, a recently announced feature to be directed by Sean of the Dead and Hot Fuzz’s Edgar Wright, is not, as far as we can tell, an update of the hoary old giant ant chiller but a fictionalised adaptation of Jon Ronson’s investigative book about the shadowy conspiracies that operate behind our notional governments. Unless it turns out that the Illuminati and the Bilderberg Group actually are all enormous ants.

41: Ninja Assassin (no release date announced)

Few star names – unless you remember Korean pop star Rain from the Wachowskis hallucinogenic Speed Racer – feature in this standard ‘assassin rebels against his masters’ tale. The title alone though promises to give Ninja Assassin that internet-friendly Snakes on a Plane appeal that should ensure a decent performance at the box office.

40: The Proposal (August)

A rom-com based on the morally rather questionable premise of a book editor (hence the title) forcing one of her subordinates to marry her so that she can gain US citizenship. Sandra Bullock is probably due another hit, and Malin Akerman still be surfing on the huge wave of excitement about Watchmen will but whether audiences will buy this rather dubious plot (remember Green Card?) remains to be seen.

39: Planet 51 (November)

A classic 1950s B-Movie plot – alien lands among the white picket fences of a fearful, simple small-town community. The twist is that the alien is an Earthly astronaut and the small town folk are little green men. A promising CG-animated caper for younger cinemagoers in the 2009 Christmas holiday.

38: The Box (March)

Set, apparently, in the Seventies, The Box is the story of a young married couple who are given a mysterious box that has uncanny, deadly powers. Somehow connecting time travel, the 1976 Viking Mars lander, teleportation and kipper ties. With former X-Man James Marsden, the always watchable Cameron Diaz and the sinister presence of Frank Langella it’s an intriguing prospect indeed.

35: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (January)

Rhona Mitra takes over from Kate Beckinsdale as the female lead in the third instalment of the Vampires versus Werewolves saga. A prequel, it’s set before the birth of Beckinsale’s character, neatly sidestepping complaints about the regrettable absence of her PVC clad form. Unlikely to attract quite as many cinemagoers as its predecessor, it might still fill a dull winter’s evening.

36: Creature from the Black Lagoon (no release date announced)

Little is known so far of this planned remake of the classic 1954 creature feature which is to be helmed by Sahara director Breck Eisner. Bill Paxton is rumoured to be leading the team, which discovers a hitherto undocumented amphibious humanoid in the depths of the South American jungle. In keeping with the current remake mania, Eisners next project is expected to be a new version of Flash Gordon.

35: G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra (August)

G.I Joe is a bigger name in the US: the toy line that we called Action Man gave rise to a popular 1980s cartoon series and long-running comics franchise. Without the solid bed of nostalgia that will give it a running start in its homeland, the movie’s appeal over here stands or falls on its star director – Stephen Sommers from the enjoyably silly Mummy films - and stellar cast, including Christopher Eccleston and Sienna Miller as well as Sommers’s old Mummy pals Brendan Fraser and Arnold Vosloo. If August 2009 is as much of a washout as 2008’s, summer legions of staycationers will be flocking to cinemas looking for some easygoing escapism, and this might just be it.

34: Fanboys (February)

The long-delayed comedy which sees a group of rabid Star Wars fanatics attempting to steal an early print of The Phantom Menace for their dying pal finally gets a release early in 2009. A version of the movie with the cancer-stricken fan removed nearly made it to cinemas in 2008 but was met with a vast internet campaign that demonstrated the awesome power of the fanboy. We’re assured that the movie will finally be released in early 2009.

33: Inkheart (January)

Brendan Fraser, fast becoming Hollywood’s go-to guy whenever kiddie-friendly action is required, joins with Andy Serkis, the man who brought Gollum and King Kong to life, in this umpteenth attempt at the now-traditional ‘storybook miraculously comes to life’ plot. A little early for the half term crowd, but Fraser’s undeniable charm should bring in a few viewers.

32: The Surrogates (December)

A promisingly thoughtful sci-fi concept. Humanity is housebound and relies on remote-controlled drones to handle all the outdoors work. Bruce Willis stars as a futuristic detective investigating the apparent murder of these ‘surrogates’alongside former Bond Girl Rosamund Pike and charismatic bruiser Ving Rhames.

31: The International (February)

What could be more timely than a drama about the international banking system? Clearly, the producers didn’t appreciate the serendipity because it was delayed while additional, more action-packed, scenes were added. Will the world be tired of hearing about bankers by February? Naomi Watts and the thinking woman’s action man Clive Owen rather hope not.

30: The Wolf Man (April)

We’ve had modern takes on Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster and The Mummy, so it was only a matter of time before The Wolfman was disinterred for another howl around the moors. More important than star Benicio Del Toro will be the inclusion of everybody’s favourite wolfman, makeup supremo Rick Baker who provided the eye-popping transformations in American Werewolf in London and The Howling. Anthony Hopkins turns up as the unfortunate lycanthrope’s father. Art Malik and Hugo Weaving will also be along for what promises to be a dark and disturbing ride.

29: The Spirit (January)

Will Eisner was one of the first comics writers to achieve personal fame and his best known creation, The Spirit, is considered by aficionados to be one of the great heroes of comics’ Golden Age. It’s surprising that we’ve had to wait this long to see the lighthearted Noir detective on the big screen. The director who has brought The Spirit to life is Frank Miller, himself a star comics writer (he wrote 300 and completely reinvigorated the industry in the 1980s with his Dark Knight Batman miniseries). Featuring Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes the movie is shot in the same stylised hyper-realistic way that characterized Miller’s previous movie, Sin City. The Spirit is unlikely to break out of the fanboy demographic, but should provide undemanding comic book thrills in the long, cold weeks before Watchmen appears.

28: A Perfect Getaway (March)

A complex twisty-turny chase thriller filmed in Puerto Rico but set in Hawaii and starring Milla Jovovich and, in a rare lead role, Hitman star Timothy Olyphant. Ideal for movie fans who like to be kept guessing until the final scene, it’s about a honeymooning couple pursued across the picturesque island by a pair of relentless killers. Expect the unexpected.

27: The Birds (no release date announced)

Few details are available about this re-make of Hitchcock’s strangest movie. Naomi Watts is reputedly playing Melanie Daniels, the mischievous socialite portrayed by Tippi Hedren in the 1963 film, and there’s talk of George Clooney for the role of Mitch Brenner, the smoothly irresistible lawyer who draws her to the doomed township of Bodega Bay.

26: S. Darko (no release date announced)

An unexpected sequel to 2001’s hallucinatory time loop brain-teaser Donnie Darko, which already has fans of the original film near-apoplectic at its superfluity. Curiosity value alone guarantees S. Darko a strong opening weekend. Word of mouth will determine whether it can survive in theatres for more than a week.

25: Hannah Montana (May)

Dolly Parton, Tyra Banks, Heather Locklear and of course Billy Ray Cyrus help Destiny 'Miley' Cyrus bring the massively popular tween pop character comes to the big screen. In the wake of the vast box office for High School Musical 3, Hannah Montana looks like a safe bet for the big cinema smash of the Easter school break.

24: Dorian Gray (November)

The classic Oscar Wilde fable retold by an impressive collection of British thespian eye-candy including Colin Firth and Emilia Fox. Ben Barnes, little known outside the Narnia cognoscenti or the few remaining fans of doomed boyband Hyrise, plays the dissipated fop with the magical portrait.

23: Sherlock Holmes (November)

Some extraordinary casting distinguishes the umpteenth Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr. as a tough, sword-flourishing Holmes and Jude Law as an even tougher, no-nonsense Watson in Guy Ritchie’s ‘reimagining’ of the ultimate sleuth. Based on Lionel Wigram’s comic book about the consulting detective rather than directly upon Conan Doyle’s books, the film also features Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, the captivating femme fatale introduced in an 1891 Holmes story A Scandal in Bohemia.

22: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (July)

Playing fast and loose with the accepted chronology of the age of the dinosaurs this third instalment of the CGI school holiday favourite has the primitive mammal heroes of the first two films somehow getting mixed up with a ‘lost world’ of surviving dinosaurs trapped beneath a glacier. John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, and Denis Leary provide voices for the computer created critters. Certain to both entertain undemanding under-fives and infuriate palaeontologists in equal measure, this has the air of being the last film in the series.

21: Nottingham (November)

Russell Crowe plays dual roles in this revision of the Robin Hood legend. If you can trust anyone, it’s a bone fide cinema genius like director Ridley Scott but Hood and Nottingham with the same face sounds like a recipe for chuckles rather than thrills.

20: Bride Wars (January)

Bride Wars is evidence that blockbuster movies aren’t always for the boys. With a near-unbeatable chick flick cast (Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Candice Bergen), it’s an implausible tale of best friends clashing over a wedding day scheduling conflict. With the release date close enough to Valentine’s Day to warrant inclusion on the schedule of a fair percentage of early February dinner dates, it stands a reasonable chance of a strong mid-table performance on the box-office charts for the year.

19: 2012 (July)

Master of disaster Roland Emmerich (The Day after Tomorrow, Godzilla, Independence Day) assembles an impressive cast including John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson and Danny Glover for an apocalyptic epic based on a 7th Century Mayan prophecy. Never one to do things by halves, Emmerich will apparently open the film with the end of the world as we know it and let things escalate from there.

18: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (January)

Brad Pitt leads the cast of this fable taken from an F.Scott Fitzgerald story about a man who is born in his seventies and ages in reverse. Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton feature in a story that spans a lifetime.

17: The Lovely Bones (March)

Saoirse Ronan narrates from beyond the grave in this brave adaptation of Alice Sebold’s practically unfilmable novel. A fine cast (not only Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon but also Stanley Tucci, former Soprano and now Life on Mars star Michael Imperioli and winner of the ‘most unpredictable career choices’ award Mark Wahlberg) added to Lord of the Rings (and more importantly Heavenly Creatures) director Peter Jackson’s formidable talent promise a thoughtful, thought-provoking gem.

16: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (no release date announced)

A Terry Gilliam film is always something of a curiosity: ploughing his own off-kilter furrow away from the calcified strictures of Hollywood cliché, he has made films that, while differing wildly in subject matter (Brazil, The Fisher King, Baron Munchausen), share a distinctively baroque surrealism. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a curiosity even among Gilliam films, containing as it does the final performance of Heath Ledger. Because Ledger did not survive to complete the movie, Gilliam has enlisted Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law to share the lead role with the departed star. Adding an extra surreal twist to the Faustian fantasy, this is sure to be one of the most talked-about films of 2009.

15: Coraline (March)

Cult author Neil Gaiman’s dark fairytale gets a faithful adaptation which will entrance anyone who enjoyed Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas or, indeed, anyone who has ever escaped through a secret door in their bedroom that leads to a mysterious parallel version of their own home.

14: They Came from Upstairs (July)

Ashley Tisdale, the delightfully pushy blonde Sharpay from High School Musical, leads a group of teens fighting an alien invasion in this light-hearted family adventure. Closer to Gremlins or Critters than War of the Worlds, They Came from Upstairs will be one of those guilty movie gems films you might take a young relative along to, but secretly quite enjoy.

13: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (June)

The inevitable sequel to last year’s surprise hit features more action, more laughs, and more shape-shifting robots. Michael Bay and Shia LeBoef return as director and star respectively with the astoundingly attractive Megan Fox as Shia’s love interest, a more international battleground and the eagerly anticipated introduction of fan favourite Soundwave.

12: The Taking of Pelham 123 (August)

If there’s a unifying trend to 2009 it’s the classic remake, and The Taking of Pelham 123 is nothing if not a classic. A major influence on new genre filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino (note the colour-coded names for the main characters) the 1970s original doesn’t seem in much need of an update. Nevertheless director Tony Scott, who’s been a little quiet for the last few years, has recruited old pal Denzel Washington as well as John Travolta and James Gandolfini to revisit the brilliantly improbable tube train hijack caper. Purists who are wincing at the thought should probably know now that Scott plans to start work on a retread of The Warriors next.

11: The Informant (September)

Matt Damon and Scott Bakula star in Steven Soderbergh’s promising black comedy based on a true story about the ostensibly dull world of agribusiness price fixing. If you enjoyed The Insider and would like to see much the same film again, but this time laced with some mordant humour and featuring a bipolar hero, this might be just the movie for you.

10: Inglourious Basterds (June)

Quentin Tarantino returns with an eclectic cast (Brad Pitt, Mike Myers and star of Hitcock's The Birds Rod Taylor) and another one of his playful reinventions of 1970s genre cinema. This time he moves from the American underworld to World War 2, with a team of Jewish-American special forces operating behind German lines, terminating Nazi commanders with extreme prejudice. Anyone who likes Tarantino war movies in the vein of The Dirty Dozen, or Nazis getting their comeuppance will undoubtedly love this movie. Fans of correct spelling may be less thrilled.

9: Terminator Salvation (June)

The long-awaited ‘future war’ segment of the Terminator saga, previously only hinted at in the first three movies, dominates proceedings in Charlie’s Angels director McG’s bold reawakening of the killer robot franchise. Christian Bale, fresh from his spectacular triumph as one fanboy hero in Dark Knight essays another - John Connor, charismatic leader of the anti-Skynet forces who the Terminators have been trying to eliminate for the last three films. Roland Kickinger will be the principal Terminator this because Arnold Schwarzenegger is said to be too busy running California to appear as the iconic cyborg killing machine and Anton Yelchin, Sam Worthington and Helena Bonham-Carter are along for the ride.

8: Monsters vs. Aliens (April)

A CGI mock-B-movie with a distinctly eclectic cast list - Kiefer Sutherland, Hugh Laurie, and Stephen Colbert lend their voices., Monsters v Aliens will go some of the way towards sating the enormous demand for a second Incredibles movie. Reese Witherspoon provides the voice of a young Californian woman who grows to gigantic size, after a freak meteorite encounter, and is recruited into a secret agency of super-freaks who are sent to battle a gigantic alien robot.

7: Avatar (December)

James Cameron’s long-awaited high-technology blockbuster shares some basic ideas with The Surrogates (Humans use humanoid remote drones, in this case to explore an alien planet) and some with Planet 51 (we are the invaders). In terms of technological ambition and cinematic reach though, this movie should be without equal. Sigourney Weaver, who combined so well for Cameron in the past reunites with her Aliens director As long as Cameron doesn’t allow the story to become too cerebral for mainstream audiences Avatar stands a fair chance of being the biggest movie of the year.

6: Angels & Demons (May)

In the wake of the Da Vinci Code, another recklessly improbable Dan Brown adventure gets the Tom Hanks treatment. Ewan McGregor comes on board this time for a breakneck chase around Vatican City in search of some antimatter, the Illuminati and a decent haircut. The critics will snigger, and Dan Brown fans (of whom there are many) will ignore them and make May one of the busiest months at the box office.

5: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May)

Hugh Jackman’s back for an X-Men prequel set 17 years before the action of the first movie.The film traces the early career of Logan, the indestructible mutant who will one day be X-Man Wolverine. Cameos from future X-Men and the chance to see how Logan acquired his deadly claws and curious hairdo give the film a geek power that will set the internet buzzing ahead of the premiere. It will be interesting to see how this performs after the third X-Men movie was seen by many to be something of a mis-step in the X-franchise.

4: Watchmen (March)

Alan Moore’s superlative comic book finally, against the author’s will, reaches the big screen. There’s little doubt for anyone who’s read the original comic that this movie will be a huge triumph. We know the ending has been amended but every scene that’s been seen so far is slavishly faithful to Dave Gibbons’s original drawings, with just a few costume tweaks to make Nite Owl look a little less ridiculous and Silk Spectre a little bit sexier. How Watchmen will play to audiences who haven’t already been seduced by Moore’s vision of a parallel universe Cold War showdown between the members of a disbanded hero team remains to be seen. You can be sure, however, that every comic geek in the western world will see this film, and either rave about it or rail against it on the internet for evermore.

3: Star Trek (May)

J.J. Abrams attempts to reinvigorate the slightly tired Star Trek franchise with a story set immediately before the action of the first TV series. Winona Ryder looks set for a return to the big leagues as Amanda Grayson – Spock’s mum. British geek god Simon Pegg turns up as Scotty, and Zachary Quinto the dark presence at the heart of TV’s Heroes certainly looks the part as a young Spock. Expect tricksy time travel shenanigans, freak transporter accidents and a clever, ubiquitous and ultimately slightly annoying viral marketing campaign.

2: Public Enemies (July)

Creator of Miami Vice Michael Mann guides the apparently tireless Christian Bale (who appears to be in every movie of any note these days) and Johnny Depp in a period gangster romp about the FBI’s search for John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd that is perfectly timed to chime with the new Great Depression.

1: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July)

Harry Potter fans will already have a fairly good idea of what happens in this, the sixth film in the hugely popular boy wizard film adapted from JK Rowling’s all-conquering books. It was an early script draft of this film that prompted Rowling to ‘out’ Dumbledore while promoting the final Potter book.

what do you think? anything missing? i definitely can't wait for public enemies. christian bale and johnny depp. wow. mann's probably trying to recreate heat or something with the awesome pairing.

23:52

2008-11-13T09:36:00.000-08:00

am listening to Gattaca Score. beautiful and haunting at the same time. i prefer it to The Piano. this album must not be played when in the shower or car. to fully enjoy and appreciate, you need a close listen. headphones are the best choice. if you haven't watched the movie, you are missing out. i first watched it when it came on tv, but i was too young to ''feel it''. without that, for me, there's no rewatch value.

my brother has a brilliant ear for music. when i first played it to him (which is what i always do, then make him guess) he guessed it right away. few seconds off the main title and he nailed it. i wish i had a ear like that. no doubt, i'm much more of a movie score enthusiast than him, but he can guess the movie. if only he continued his piano classes as a kid, i would get more than a ''that sounds off'' from him when i play my guitar.

just downloaded the savages. it took ages. phillip seymour hoffman and laura linney are in it. phillip and laura play siblings. not close ones. their father lives with another family. they rarely meet and they are the savages. the movie has a very dull tone to it. the amazing acting and honest dialogue make the movie very strong. but it is not for everyone. i like it when i watch a movie expecting something and something else happens. good stuff of course. the movie makes you think after its over. it deals with what we all are, inside and out, sometimes, savages.

Stanley Kubrick Collection has just entered my movie library. lolita, eyes wide shut, a clockwork orange, dr strangelove, full metal jacket, the shining, barry lyndon, and 2001: a space odyssey all on one dvd. lucky me.

i also watched meet joe black on hbo some time back. i've lost count how many times i've watched it before. this time it had a different effect on me. during the dance scene at the end, and somewhere between the fireworks, i cried. so weird. because it only happens during the first watch of a movie and when it mattered. jurrasic park - theatre. air force one - home. star wars episode 1 - home. and of course the village. william hurt's big talk to the elders about who will take over when they die.. '' the scene is about emotionality". martin brest who directed mjb and scent of a woman hired thomas newman for both his movies. brilliant choice. name one movie that thomas has scored which is terrible. i'll just name a few great ones. both score and movie. shawshank redemption, the green mile, american beauty, meet joe black, road to perdition, scent of a woman, angels in america, cinderella man, and i can go on forever. so give the man his oscar already! anyone who can inspire people through music should deserve that at the least.

i also need to start looking for an external hard disc. need to save my highly valuable and rare ost's and scores before anything happens. touch wood.

evening. have i spoke of this before? a movie about an old lady who is on her death bed, and starts to mumble things which sound like her past. her daughters are with her, trying to figure out what she's saying. Jan A. P. Kaczmarek. that's not it. that's just the composers name. but you already knew that, didn't you? best known for his oscar winning score, finding neverland. i really enjoyed his score for evening. it's not a complete score. but the few pieces by him are magic. the polish composer uses very few elements/instruments that can take you to the next place. besides his score pieces on the ost, there's also buble, fitzgerald and more.

i really can't recommend this movie for everyone. you gotta be in the right mood. watch it late at night, when everyone's asleep. might work. but the score i can definitely say is a must have for those who like floating in the sky then falling and crashing into the ocean. a lot of little piano arpeggios in the score. jan loves that.

Makali.

2008-10-15T23:15:00.000-07:00

after watching 'a good year', i knew i had to get the soundtrack. one of makali's song was featured on it. 'Il faut du temps au temps'. the band was so hard to find online. i heard most of their songs on their myspace page. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=54665917 . the band is amazing. of course i don't understand a word they are saying but the music's really good. they have one video posted on youtube. ''le bruit qui court''

check out assise la and le linge seche au vent, it's on their myspace page.

every day above ground is a good one.

2008-10-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

A week ago, i went over to wai kin's house to borrow some movies. wai kin stays a few houses away. earlier he said he has 'pathology', with keanu reeves in it. he didn't have it. instead, he had some tv series, commander and chief and six feet under. i picked six feet under.

the show starts with an amazing theme by thomas newman. he had the entire 5 seasons, so i've been watching it everyday. the characters are really well written. i actually saw it when it came on hbo years ago. didn't follow through. every character is so sad. the show's kinda depressing. because everyone dies and the gloomy aura. but i'm somehow hooked to it. i'm up to season 3 now.

i think hbo somehow churns out good shows, entourage (you can't not like it), and this. i'm always attracted to dysfunctional family shows (arrested development, little miss sunshine, king of california, ..) but this is more disturbing than the rest. you always hope the characters somehow make it in the end. but they don't. not in the way you want them to. i'm sure everyone knows the story, so i'm gonna skip the summary of it. but the characters stays long in your head after bodies are cremated or embalmed.

here's the opening theme by Thomas Newman.

i also watched a really old movie, dial m for murder. by the master of suspense, alfred hitchcock. i heard so much about the movie, i had to watch it. the movie starts with a kinda happy/trippy theme by Dimitri Tiomkin. weird since the movie is about murder, suspense and stuff. the first movie i've seen grace kelly in. she plays a wife (margot) to an ex tennis pro. her husband, ray milland (tony), plans to murder her. he found out about an affair she had with robert cummings (mark). tony is cool throughout the movie..not revealing any anger or anything actually. tony hires someone to kill his wife. doesn't quite work out. he then plans something else. the movie has a lot of dialogue. so, you have to pay close attention. grace kelly is so elegant and well poised, it's irritating. but everyone was like that those days. i like how the shots are taken and the story is definitely engaging. i'll definitely watch the movie again.

here's the famous shot from the movie. apparently the movie was shot in 36 days. this scene required 1 full week for rehearsals and multiple takes to get the choreography and timing right.

and this is taken by vanity fair.

also by vanity fair, the famous shot of cary grant running in the cornfield in hitchcock's
north by northwest.

yeah, that's seth rogen.

DEATH MAGNETIC.the brothers bloom.choke.changeling.diminished capacity.doubt.fireflies in the garden.flashbacks of a fool.flash of genius....

2008-09-20T01:12:00.000-07:00

hello, hi. it's been more than a month. my finals just ended. i'm having a break for one month. i was planning on working. we'll see about that.

a lot of things happened. metallica's death magnetic has come out. september 15 in malaysia i think. the day that never comes, their first single from the album is quite catchy. the video was released too. check it out.

the solos as you can see..are back. the best part is when the guy with the jump start cable appears. my apocalypse, unforgiven III, and the judas kiss are my favourite from this album. i think kirk just went crazy with the wah pedal this time. good for him!!

LONG LIVE METALLICA!

also from the movie world, a lot's been happening. i'm gonna go through this alphabetically so i don't anything. first, there's brothers bloom. a movie starring adrien brody, mark ruffalo and rachel weisz. and rinko kikuchi. em...the mute one from babel. and her character's name in this movie is 'bang bang'. i think it's because she likes to blow things up. so the brothers ruffalo and brody are con men. and for their last con, it involves rachel weisz. and something like that. so here's the trailer. everything is so colourful and matsui from oceans is in it.

choke. a comedy about a sex addict, sam rockwell(snow angels, the green mile) who ''chokes'' in restaurants and stuff and ma

kes.....just watch the trailer.

clint eastwood directs changeling. a piece set in 1928. angelina jolie's son is kidnapped. when her son is found, she soon realises that the boy's not him. john malkovich plays a pastor who's trying to bring down the l.a.p.d and their secrets. trailer looks real good. first i thought maybe the boy's an alien or something. but it seems like some sort of cover up.

matthew broderick starrs in diminished capacity. an indie looking flick. about a man who suffers from memory loss and decides to take a trip back home and meets up with his uncle, alan alda and an old flame. his uncle has an old baseball card that is worth a lot..matthew tries to help him sell it. then the fun begins.

Doubt, is based on a play. meryl streep plays a nun who suspects a priest, phillip seymour hoffman of abusing a black student. amy adams also plays a nun who's sort of in the middle of them. meryl doesn't really have proof. eventually amy realises that meryl just doesn't like him. at first, when i heard amy was in the movie, i was like shit. no. enchanted. no. then i saw the trailer, i think she would play her part quite well. her innocent face is needed, i think.

on the scoring ground, howard shore has been given the task. originally assigned to phillip glass, headache extraordinaire. haha. no, the guy's a genius, really. but personally i feel some of his music from movies don't work well as a stand alone. i heard glass was pulled out due to scheduling conflicts.

i have no

doubt that both shore and this movie will do well. the movie comes out december 12. in the u.s.

Fireflies In The Garden. its already been released. but a limited release. so maybe november when most of us get to see it. the thing is, i found out about this movie when browsing through javier navarette's page on imdb. he's the guy behind the music for pan's labyrinth. and now he's doing this. julia roberts, ryan reynolds, willem dafoe, emily watson, carrie-ann moss, ioan gruffudd and hayden paynettiere. hellava cast. except the last one. it's a drama about a tragedy that happens, and the family starts falling apart, i think. not much info about the movie.

daniel craig starrs in flashbacks of a fool. about this actor(craig) looking back at his life and what a fool he's been. haha.

Flash Of Genius. ahh. greg kinnear of little miss sunshine is in this. he plays a college professor /inventor who invents the first windshield wiper. ford, the car company wants to buy it, but instead they steal the idea and don't name him as inventor. supposedly a true story.

Milk. Harvey Milk. Sean Penn. Emile Hirsch. Josh Brolin. James Franco. sean penn plays the first gay elected official. another true story. lots of speeches. lots of inspirational moments. classic penn. the director's gay too, i think.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. starring michael cera and kat dennings. a teenage comedy. michael plays a high school student in a band.

he meets her one day and she asks him to be her boyfriend for 5 minutes.

i don't know what the title means. michael cera was really good in arrested development, juno, and superbad. trailer looks good.

i can't remember seeing her before.

Mark Mothersbaugh's doing the score. He also scored all of Wes Anderson's movies. cant wait.

anne hathaway starrs in rachel getting married. rachel who's been in and out of rehab for the past 10 years returns home for the weekend for her sisters wedding.

directed by jonathan demme. the guy behind the silence of the lambs, philadelphia, and the manchurian candidate.

trailer looks really good. i'm definitely gonna see this. the song at 0:58 sounds good.

that's it for now.

2008-08-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

this is the year for comedy/stoner flicks. forgetting sarah marshall, pineapple express, harold and kumar 2, zack and miri make a porno (not a porno) and tropic thunder.

seen the 3rd one. not great. looks like there will be a sequel.

anyway i was watching blue streak the other day for the 50th time .. i think. martin lawrence is brilliant in it. from the moment he left prison, the comedy begins. the highlight of the movie is when dave chapelle appears..in the police detention...

the latest movie by david fincher, the curious case of benjamin button is coming out later this year. here are some pictures during the scoring sessions.

Alexandre Desplat conducts the Holywood Studio Symphony.

Orchestrator Conrad Pope, composer Alexandre Desplat and scoring mixer Shawn Murphy.

Desplat and Fincher.

AUSTRALIA , an upcoming movie by baz luhrmann( romeo and juliet, moulin rouge), starring nicole kidman and hugh jackman. trailer looks epic.

x men origins: wolverine the movie is also coming out. here are some extremely cool pictures.
the trailer is out but its the cam version. gotta wait for a clearer version. great news, harry gregson williams will be scoring this movie. brilliant choice.

also, appaloosa, a new movie directed and starring the brilliant ed harris. also in it are viggo mortensen, jeremy irons and renee zellweger. this is ed harris 2nd direction following his 1st in 2000, pollock. appaloosa is a western. its about two friends ed and viggo who are hired to bring the law back to appaloosa, the town. so somewhere along the way, i think renee comes. and jeremy is the bad guy. so yeah..should be good. heres the trailer.

the dark knight.

2008-07-21T21:07:00.000-07:00

wow.

batman has really evolved in this one. he was confronted with really big choices compared to the first movie. i was always wondering how they would introduce his batpod, this was the coolest way to do it.

joker was the star of the movie. heath managed to make joker scary and sick as hell. his whole body language changed for the role. and he uses all knives. no guns. " i use a knife because guns are too quick. otherwise, you can't savor all the emotions. you know who people are in their last moments. " joker was trying to prove that everyone eventually falls and does terrible things. and he's also indestructible cos he's got nothing to lose. so gotham's 3 knights, batman, harvey dent and lt. james gordon plan a perfect trap for the joker but he's just too smart and manages to escape.

aaron eckhart plays harvey dent/twoface. he's really righteous and would go all out to clear the city of the criminal scum. batman chooses him to take over. so, batman wants to quit. harvey turn to the dark side when a tragedy occurs and makes him two face. the joker throughout the movie wanted to bring harvey, the district attorney down. i think they would probably focus on two face more the next time since jokers/heath's gone. scarecrow came back for a small part in the beginning. but no character development.

michael caine plays alfred, batman's butler. he's always giving advice to bruce. and is too good to be a butler.

i would confidently say this movie is the best so far this year. and definitely beats the crap out of bullshit like spiderman.

really nothing much to say but great script, great acting. lets hope the 3rd installment gets better.

scores and soundtracks.

2008-07-09T20:08:00.000-07:00

the dark knight is coming out next week. luckily i managed to get the score from some dude's website. here are the covers. they are releasing the first one as a special edition poster signed by hans zimmer and james newton howard. i would love to get my hands on it. what i love about this album is how they managed to take little bit from the first one but created something entirely new. track 2 has also a touch of danny elfman's batman returns but elevates to something of higher power. this score was mostly written together but james wrote the 'elegant' stuff and hans wrote the 'dark' stuff.

the entire album is a must have for any decent/hans/james/score fan. the joker's theme, i'm not a hero, harvey two - face and a dark knight are high points on the album. for the joker theme, hans wrote the material separately because joker's character was a singular philosophy and had to come from one guy. james also felt he was 'too nice' to work on the joker.

the thing is, there has not been a bigger collaboration in movie score history other than recently with 2005's batman begins. the last time two greats worked together before 2005 was in 1950 for 'the egyptian' by bernard herrmann and alfred newman.

hans and james have been friends for a very long time and have always wanted to work together on a movie. unfortunately, before batman begins they had no time because of scheduling conflicts. thank god when christopher nolan picked hans for batman begins, hans called james aboard.

hans has planned to take a break for a year from film scoring and decided to do concerts. next from him is ron howard's frost/nixon and later, madagascar 2 : escape to africa.

james is doing the score for the new movie by edward zwick, defiance. he previously worked with the director on blood diamond. also coming out by james is confessions of a shopaholic, a novel by sophie kinsella.

the greats.
Hans Florian Zimmer and James Newton Howard.

since we're on the subject of scores and such, i'm going to show you some of my favourites.

first of all, a good year is a great movie. and marc didn't overdo the pieces. the entire soundtrack is amazing and includes makali, a french pop group, and greats like charles trenet, harry nillson, jean sablon and tino rossi. if you love french, laid back kinda music, this is for you. this cover's a good enough reason to watch the movie.

this is my fav score by harry gregson williams to date. his best work includes spy game, man on fire, antz, phonebooth and deja vu. hans zimmer was supposed to score this, but that remains a mystery to us all.

everybody compares this to gladiator but i think harry did a very differrent score in a way that he focused less on the action and the pieces were very subtle. crusaders, ibelin, rise a knight are very thematic and very medieval religious sounding. the last three tracks, saladin, path to heaven and light of life is very well presented could have possibly raised him to oscar status.

natacha atlas sings the last track in arabic. This cue is a combination of choral hymn ideas that enhance and glorify the rest of the score. damn i love this score.

next is 2004's garden state written and directed by zach braff. the guy who plays the newbie in scrubs.

i absolutely love this movie and natalie portman. yes i do. she just played her part very well and is so human in the movie. and zach of course is amazing. he is also the guy responsible for the amazing soundtrack. he handpicked all the artists. indie band the shins is definitely a highlight in this album. in the movie 'natalie' tells 'zach' that the song will change his life. it's true. new slang, thats the song. then there's frou frou, electronic kinda music, also very good. iron and wine is a one man band lead by samuel beam. very folk like and meaningful music. cary brothers, simon and garfunkle, and colin hay are also featured on the album with amazing songs. the two bands, thievery corporation and the zero 7 are brilliant and add great feel to the movie. this soundtrack is a must have for all music lovers. and you definitely have to watch this movie.

constantine. john constantine. this score is written by brian tyler and klaus badelt. brian mostly scores the album with some cues from klaus. klaus used to work under hans before.
this score is great from start to finish. track 3, meet john constantine, is his gempak theme of course. with the crossover, they show how the devil has entered 'our plane'. confession has light piano work to it and introduces rachel weisz's character. lucifer, rooftop and the end titles are also highlights in the movie. a perfect circle has a song in the movie, passive. during the club scene. unfortunately its not on the album. great song. great band.

that's it for now.

upcoming movies.

2008-06-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

these are a couple of movies coming out soon. can't wait.

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Eagle Eye

2008-06-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

wow..its been too long. monkeys messed around with the telephone line and so..it took 2 weeks for TM to fix stuff.

well..i saw the happening..i feel really bad for the actors especially mark wahlberg..terrific actor(the departed, a perfect storm), he actually made me laugh during the scenes where something's supposed to be happening. i blame shyamalan. he probably retook the scenes too many times till mark got too tired and decided to act funny. i actually didn't hate the movie that much...i just couldn't understand why he had to make the movie. zooey deschanel was absolutely gorgeous. i mean she didn't look bad in even the most 'disturbing' scenes. i loved all of shyamalan's previous movies especially the village but this one was the best movies of all times. heard he was going to direct the avatar trilogy next. lets see how that goes.

got a lot of assignments to complete. supposedly dvd's in singapore cost 1.20 a piece.

can't wait for metallica's new album supposedly out in september. hetfield looks old as hell. lars is balding. they said the albums gonna be like black album and master of puppets, solos are tougher, riffs are grittier.

kirk before a show.

''Gone are the extra staff and all the excess that comes with them. It was quite mellow backstage and I was made to feel welcome. Everyone seemed to have grown up a bit...'' ross halfin, a rock photographer.

marc streitenfeld is scoring the upcoming thriller by ridley scott, body of lies. dicaprio and russel crowe are acting in it. marc did a good year(last few tracks), and american gangster(whole score) previously. here are some pics during the scoring session of the upcoming movie.

marc and ridley in the control room.

at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Bros. in Burbank, California.

indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull.

2008-06-04T01:40:00.000-07:00

just watched indiana 4 last night with family. you can tell how old harrison ford is. it's cool that he wanted to do all the stunts himself. he said the audience can tell if someone else did them. this is the 3rd time my brother is watching this. he said he couldn't wait till indie picks up his fedora in the end before the credits. he really enjoyed the movie by the way. just that 3 times is kinda too much. unless its batman begins, the prestige and coming soon..the dark knight.( which he probably will).

anyway cate blanchett played her role as a russian dictator quite well. but i assume this was nothing to her compared to her more challenging roles like queen elizabeth , and the more recent, bob dylan in "i'm not there".

shia labeouf played the rugged/james dean/rebel without a cause/greased hair/harley kinda teenager, mutt williams. he was ok. now the reason i say ok is that he wasn't quite in his element. ...as the usual comic role he plays in even stevens, disturbia and transformers. but i respect his breaking out of the stereotype role and trying something different. he even said in an interview that he was tired of playing the teenager. he wants "to be a bad guy". at least this is a start. a BIG SPIELBERG ONE.

there were a few scenes which seemed more than familiar.
1. the temple which collapsed in the end was like in the mummy returns when the jungle gets sucked into the pyramid.

2. also in the mummy, the big giant ants ate the russian soldiers. only in the mummy, they were bugs.

and my bro spotted some catchy lines at the end.

indie: where'd they go? into space?(referring to the aliens)
ox: not into space..into the space between spaces.(whatever the hell that means)

ah..theres one more scene at the wedding when indie gets married. he kisses the bride. mutt licks his lips. and his mum is the bride. they focused it ..like it's supposed to mean something.

anyway, on the whole i enjoyed the movie. 7/10. got nothing really much to say about the score by john williams. cause, the previous movies..i was too young to remember the music. but listening to all of it now...i realise his music has also grown as well as indie has. the difference to me, this score compared to the previous ones..the raiders march is much longer and fans can really enjoy that. raiders march is the theme song for all the movies. hopefully no one is scratching their heads right now.

iron man and once.

2008-06-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

so i watched it the day it came out.. the acting was great, expecially robert downey jr, and jeff bridges. but somehow i felt the beginning was a little draggy.

and i felt it was kinda bull that during capture, tony stark(r.d.j.) could make the entire suit without being detected. its like the terrorists are a bunch of assholes. the terrorist fellas even had a cam to monitor.

anyway, r.d.j's dialogue was pretty cool throughout. thank god he got the role for iron man..seriously he's like one of the most underrated actors in u.s and he did an incredible job with the character. i think it was kinda dumb saying 'i am iron man' at the end though. only wish i didn't leave the theatre during the credits. heard there were some stuff after that.

and i think they were trying to promote audi.. heard somewhere that if audi is so great, how come there are so few or no old models on the road compared to bmw.

anyway, one of my favourite things about the movie was the score. composed by ramin djawadi(pronounced java-dee), a fairly new composer who managed to combine rock guitar and an ochestra to bring out something different compared to most super hero movies. although sometimes distracting during the movie but it works well as a stand alone. djawadi is most known for his work on the tv series prison break.

a week ago i went to the theatre with my brother to watch the orphanage but ended up watching an indie movie, once. it was a very low budget, no lighting, kinda musical. actors weren't actors, they were singers. but as i was watching..and new songs were sung..i realised that the songs were so good that no real dialogue was needed. glen, the guy and marketa, the girl had so much chemistry that they even got together after the movie..or was it during..??

the thing is..some time back..february or march..when i was working in a music/movie shop..rock corner, one of my mates ordered this soundtrack cos of the overload orders that we got. i never even listened to the album once. all i heard about the movie when it came out was that spielberg loved it. oh i just remembered..DO NOT watch this movie at the theatre because they censor the dialogue more than needed. so fucking retarded. download it or get it at your local distributors. or better still.. buy the original dvd. this movie isn't a chicks movie. if anyones wondering. you just need to have an open mind and enjoy the simplicity of it. the guy plays a broken takamine by the way.

2008-05-26T03:15:00.000-07:00

hello. this is my 1st entry. so, basically i'll mostly write about movies, music,
little bout myself, and everything in between.

i listened to the new switchfoot song the other day ' this is home' . soundtrack for the new narnia. the song was pretty bad. compared to their previous hits. i think they were pressured for this track. sounded so average. sounded so soulless. anyway i managed to get tickets for the concert when they were down some months back. they were AMAZING live. got there after work at rock corner. met up with my elder sister, purshyla. we got pretty close to the stage thanks to my sis who is short so i tagged along. the opening acts were love me butch and altered frequency. not bad but we were waiting for switchfoot ..so obviously the crowd wasn't so semangated. switchfoot came on and we were screaming and stuff. the guys are really down to earth.

only thing was the setlist. they missed out quite a few good songs. you, 24, sooner or later, chem6a, the blues, life and love and why. i guess they thought we wouldn't know their old tracks. sad. they were nice enough to meet up with fans after the show. i could tell they looked extremely tired. then i told jon how amazing his solo album is. and he said ' yeah, i had a lot of fun making it. after signing couple of posters..we left....hmm..so it was great. hopefully they'll come back for more with more songs. i'll definitely be there.

i'll write something about iron man. next time.