I am Haris!

I want to be a ✭Rockstar Scientist✭!

2009-11-08T04:05:00.000+08:00

We went to Penang for a couple of days and saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in 3D at Gurney Plaza. I think Gurney Plaza's GSC is the only cinema with 3D within an hour of my place so there's not much of an option. We had great seats too: last row center so the viewing angle was 90°-ish. It was awesome.

And the movie itself was great, too. I don't particularly know who wrote the screenplay or directed but he/she/they nailed it in my opinion. I especially loved the fast cuts of Flint Lockwood describing his actions when he's doing science. I also loved the posters little Flint had in his bedroom, specifically the Tesla poster.

Going in, I only knew that Bill Hader and Anna Faris were the main characters. I didn't know that Mr T was in it. Nor did I know that Neil Patrick Harris voiced Steve the monkey.

The jokes were good, too. Some were obviously targeted at the kids in the audience. But there were more than enough geeky/nerdy ones in there to satisfy me. Hell, they had Bruce Campbell, Mr T and Neil Patrick Harris. I am well-satisfied.

The 3D was used to great effect. As my brother said: this is a disaster movie. There wasn't a lot of things flying out of the screen, but the depth perception lends a bit more oomph to the destruction that is happening. That said, it isn't necessary to have watched the movie in 3D to enjoy it. It is plenty good enough to stand on its own.

Puteri Umno apparently wants to increase movie piracy

2009-10-15T07:59:00.000+08:00

Apparently Puteri Umno wants to ban "horror, mystical and superstitious" movies. Why? Obviously, because "such films can weaken the faith of Muslims in the country". Apparently it was passed without debate, too.

I am sorry MPAA, if this nonsense ever becomes law, I'm afraid that many Malaysians will have to pirate your movies if we want to see it at all.

Full text:

KUALA LUMPUR: Puteri Umno wants the Government to ban the production of “horror, mystical and superstitious” movies, claiming such films can weaken the faith of Muslims in the country.

The movement also wants the authorities to empower the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) to take action against such productions.

The call was contained in one of the motions that were passed without debate at the movement’s general assembly on Wednesday.

“In view of widespread screening of movies with ghosts, superstitious and mystical elements, we urge the Government to empower Jakim to ban their production as they do not carry any positive message, but instead may destroy the faith,” it said.

The movement also called on the Government to issue a similar ban on all foreign movies of such genres.

It said film producers should concentrate on producing films of different genres that could serve as lessons, rather than show horror and superstitious ones which might not even deliver the intended messages.

It added parents must provide religious education to children to ensure that they would have strong faith to avoid from getting influenced by such negative elements.

I want to see District 9 again, and again, and again …

2009-08-16T03:24:00.008+08:00

Remember when I said movies this summer was disappointing? Well, I may have been just a little bit hasty.

I went into the cinema knowing absolutely nothing about District 9 other than that it had aliens in it and slums were somehow involved. I hadn't even seen a trailer.

District 9 is old-school science fiction. You will see none of the shiny, clean lines that most people think of when they think of sci-fi. It's gritty, often very violent. When I first saw Wikus Van Der Merwe (he's the main character person), I was struck by the casual cheerfulness with which he did evil. He doesn't see himself or his acts as evil of course – he was just following the rules. There was a scene quite early on when Wikus was asking an alien to sign an eviction notice and the alien refused. Wikus then threatened to take the alien's child away due to "unsafe living conditions". Pure evil. When the shit hits the fan though … well no, he's still evil, but the shit does a very good job of hitting the fan.

The plot of course is predictable but you don't see this movie for the plot twists. You see it for the commentary. How bureaucracy can be evil. How the aliens are treated as sub-human scum. How the strong preys on and devours the weak. Still, I don't think one viewing is enough to do justice to this movie. I'm sure there are things I've missed and I look forward to seeing this again.

EDIT 22/08/2009: Listen to The /Filmcast review of District 9. It's very good but there will be spoilers.

Summer movie round-up

2009-08-13T00:05:00.002+08:00

In one word: disappointing. Out of all the movies that I saw between May and these first few days of August, only two I can honestly say I enjoyed – Star Trek, and The Brothers Bloom. And Trek wasn't even all that good, just a solid reboot to an old story.

The Brothers Bloom on the other hand was a great movie. It was funny, clever, and at times weird. Amazing if it hadn't been for the people I had to watch it with. Kids! "Get off my lawn!" – and all that. I would have liked to watch it I again but apparently it was shown only in KL and I was only there for a day. Is the DVD out by the way?

As for the rest of them? I read the reviews for Terminator: Salvation but ignored them and saw it anyway. Regretted that. I was expected a movie with John Connor as the main character and what I got was a movie that is itself confused about what it is about.

I did not ignore the reviews for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen but I never liked the first movie anyway so no loss really. The reviews were hilarious by the way. If anything positive can be said to come from that movie the reviews are it.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was… bland. Oh, it's pretty and all – but nothing seems to happen in the movie. I spent the whole time just waiting for stuff to happen and when it does, all I can say is "That's it?" Dumbledore's death and Snape's reveal at the end just fell flat for me.

And I also saw Monsters vs. Aliens but that's not really a summer movie (I enjoyed it – which is the polite way of saying it was "meh." 3D definitely made it better).

I probably won't be seeing G.I. Joe.

Go see Watchmen

2009-03-09T07:43:00.001+08:00

On the 5th of March, I woke up and immediately drove to Penang's Sunway Carnival to catch "Watchmen". I had doubts when I first heard that they were making a "Watchmen" movie and it quickly faded into disinterest as time passed and news about various legal BS came to pass. But one blog post from Wil Wheaton was enough to rekindle my interest and I wasn't disappointed.

I will probably need a disclaimer here: the version that I watched was somewhat cut up by the Malaysian Censorship Board. In my opinion, they were extremely selective with their cuts and took great care to not ruin the movie. As far as I can tell they only cut out some sex scenes and boob shots, a guy getting his arms sawn off, and Doctor Manhattan had a blurry crotch. Of course, I don't actually know what scenes were removed since I haven't seen the original theater release so my opinion may change if I ever get to see it.

The thing I remember most from the movie was the punches: they sound so solid, so satisfying. I don't think I've ever noticed the punching sounds in a movie before. I assume it was a deliberate choice and I love it.

Plot-wise it pretty much follows the comic except for the details of the villain's heinous villainy but in my opinion it makes so much more sense than what it was in the comic (Sorry, Alan Moore! :(). Disclaimer: I haven't read the comic in a number of years so my memory of it is somewhat fuzzy, although I do remember the main plot points, I think.

I loved the movie. Go see it.

I am officially excited for Watchmen

2009-02-21T18:20:00.000+08:00

Thanks to Wil Wheaton:

I'm not going to discuss specifics, because that would suck for a lot of people, but: PAY ATTENTION, MY FELLOW GEEKS: YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT.

All set for March 6th!