Sherlock Holmes' Review

Plot: Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) is set to investigate the mysterious and evil Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) and his plan on taking over England. While Holmes always has a logical theory on every method, Blackwood uses "magic". In this movie, Holmes tries to prove that there are alot of tricks behind Blackwood's sleeve. Along the way, Holmes' partner-in-crime Dr. Watson (Jude Law), and his one and only love interest Irene Adler, aids him in his quest to put Blackwood down for good.

The Good: Guy Ritchie's take on Sherlock Holmes appears to be very comical and sometimes, goofy. Which happens to be very different from what a lot of people would expect him to be in real life. But in this case, well at least for me, it would work better this way on the big screen. In this movie, Downey Jr. tries very hard to portray Sherlock differently from Tony Stark. But as hard as he tries, there are definitely several similarities we could spot in Holmes' personalities. However, Robert remains very lovable and his charm is the only thing that makes Sherlock interesting in the movie.

The Bad: Screenplay is very very, very bad, Guy Ritchie would need to work on that for the planned sequel. Shortening the movie by 10-12 minutes would also be very helpful as there are some scenes which are irrelevant to the plot. We also need to see more of Holmes' clever methods in solving cases, rather than just thinking of where his punches and kicks land would take the guy down. Or for the worst case, we would prefer him to use more than just a rope to finish Blackwood off...it was very frustrating. Movie was lower than my expectations, but at least it did good at the box office.

Overall: 5.5 / 10

Avatar's Review

Plot: After his twin brother's death, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) was the only one left that matched his DNA and the only one who can interact with his Avatar. In the year 2154, Earth's only hope of survival is a mineral called Unobtainium. The mineral is nested somewhere in a planet called Pandora. And mankind's greatest hope rests on the hands of Jake Sully and his ability to spy on the primitive tribe, called the Na'vi, and gain their trusts in order to get what they are after.

The Good: 12 years after Titanic, James Cameron still reigns as king of sci-fi movies. To be honest, I thought I was going to regret watching it in 3D since it might be distracting you from the bigger picture (like all the previous movies did, which is annoying). But Cameron proved me wrong and took it to a whole new level. And unlike Michael Bay who turns money into trash, Cameron knows who to make use of the 250-300 million dollars budget. In Avatar, you're not just watching the movie, but you're actually IN the movie and Jake Sully being your "Avatar". Pandora is just too beautiful to even be your wildest imagination. From the forest, to the beautiful and the imaginative creatures...argh, I just can't stop complimenting it. The story is simple, and anything more will be too complicated. It's message can never be more straightforward; save the green life and war will only make things more difficult. Moreover, the movie is 163 mins long and it's not boring even the slightest bit. C'mon people, every second of the movie is worth it and none of it is a waste of time cause every scene is just as important. I just wanna say that 2009 is almost a complete disasters for movies, a few of them saved it from a total blowout. Among the few, Avatar reigns above them all. Lets just hope that it beats Titanic's record.

The Bad: No movie is perfect. This one may be because of amateur acting, or some cheesy dialogue every now and then. But its flaws are easily covered by its strength, so that would explain the perfect score.

Overall: 10 / 10

Invictus' Review

Plot: Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) was released after serving 27 years in prison and became elected as the first ever South African President in 1994. His country was on the age of racism and hate due to the apartheid. He then tries to unify his country using the language of sport. He rallies South Africa's underdog rugby team, called Springboks, and tries to motivate their captain - Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) - to win the 1995 World Cup.

The Good: Clint Eastwood prevails once again with Invictus (which means "Unconquered") and its motivating story of hope. The movie is not a total Biopic of Mandela like it would appear to be. It's also an underdog story of how the Springboks triumph and conquered all odds and went on to win the world cup. And it's also a political message trying to prove that forgiveness is indeed divine and it is the key to end the civil war in his country. Both performances from Freeman and Damon were solid, and especially for Damon, he proved that he is among the best actors out there. More like Remember the Titans, the moral for the movie is straightforward enough.

The Bad: Too much rugby. Moreover, most of the rugby scenes were kind of repetitive and there were no climax moments. It would be much better if they could cut some time from the rugby matches and replace it with more training scenes from the Springboks and show the audiences how they improved in their game. It would make more sense rather than just showing us how jogging in the morning and more working out could lead them all the way to win the world cup.

Overall: 8.8 / 10

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's Review

Modern Warfare 2 is more of an improvement from the first Modern Warfare than a sequel. Campaign mode is a little bit longer, and I certainly feel that it's much more thrilling than the previous MW. The whole 7-8 hours through the campaign is an adrenaline rush. Moreover, the story is engaging enough to make you want to keep playing until the next chapter. Sad thing is, 7-8 hours is unfortunately not enough for first person shooter fans and MW fans. They added a specs-op mode which is specially made for co-op playing and it sure as hell is fun. Last but definitely not least, the multiplayer mode is back and they upgraded it with new features and modes which definitely will hook you in for months. Sound effects were great, graphics are terrific, and overall...COD MW2 is a full package. If you ask me whether this game is worth the hype, I would disagree. Nonetheless, it's still the best first-person shooter EVER released on consoles and it's a must have for everyone, and I mean everyone.

Overall: 9.5 / 10

Up in the Air's Review

Up in the Air follows the story of Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), a corporate downsizing expert who loves to be on the road more than being at home. He also has a "side" job when he is not busy firing people, which is giving motivational lectures. He travels 350,000 miles a year, and he plans to achieve the 10 million mile mark until a technological breakthrough in his company threatened his dreams. Up in the Air is smart, it's funny, and it's surprisingly entertaining. This movie is about life, and how social connection would affect it. The script is brilliant. In my opinion, it's Reitman's best movie thus far. The jokes were funny. George Clooney proves that he knows how to pick films and if I'm not wrong, Up in the air makes him in the running for "Best Actor" for the upcoming Oscar ceremony. However, the movie will no doubt be a nomination for this year's best film.

Overall: 9.5 / 10

Buzz! Quiz World's Review

Quiz World is an improvement from Quiz TV, and it's a drastic improvement. Relentless software has made Buzz to be easily the most fun family game on the PS3. On Quiz World, there are more categories and more types of rounds to be played. And also 5000 new questions to go with it. There is no way that you won't find at least ONE category or subject that you are good at. It's a hell lot of fun to play with a bunch of friends. The online content has improved too. Now, they allow up to 4 players on each PSN ID, or should I say per-TV, to compete against other people on the internet. The buzzers (controllers) are still the same, which is a good thing. You can still use your old buzzers from Quiz TV and just buy the game for Quiz World. Or you could also buy the bundle again and play with up to 7 of your friends! It's no doubt the best trivia game on the PS3, and your friends wouldn't be disappointed if you invite them to try this game.

Overall: 8.5 / 10

DJ Hero's Review

DJ hero brings a whole new musical video game genre, but is it worth the hype? Due to the various level of difficulties DJ Hero has to offer, this is THE game that even your grandma can enjoy. The turn table is by far the most fun "musical instrument", and yes, even better than the "Guitar". Once you start turning the platter, you aren't going to stop for hours at least. Now lets talk about the songs. DJ Hero has over 93 mixes from the hottest artist including Jay-Z, Black Eyed Peas, 50 cent, and more. And I'm sure Activision is going to release much more songs from the DLC. The turntable itself is solid. The platter is light (so you don't waste a lot of energy on it), and the slider works well. It doesn't take long even for kids to season themselves on the turntable. The online content doesn't offer much types of category, however. And I do have to complain about the price, it's too much and I'm sure most people won't get to play it. I would suggest 90-100 bucks for the regular edition and 150 would do fine for the limited edition. Nonetheless, DJ Hero deserves the title for music game of the year...well, at least its mine.

Overall: 9.1 / 10

Armored's Review

Armored is one of the movie that you wish you could take back your 10 bucks for the ticket you spent on it and rather just rent it on DVD for one buck. It's not a total train wreck, but it's one of the movies which you would forget right after you left the cinema. One of the biggest mistake (which I really have to mention) Armored did was the trailer they release for the movie. In the trailer, they showed a scene where Ty Heckett (the main character) was tricked of being robbed in a hijack situation. Whereas in the movie, that scene was suppose to thrill us and have us thinking that he and the other 2 members of the crew was really being hijacked. Who doesn't watch the trailer before watching the movie? Its a total screw up. The action scenes were boring and all of them were nothing you haven't seen before. There is a plot, and there is a story. But it shouldn't be in the cinema because it's not worth 10 bucks.

Overall: 4.0 / 10

Ninja Assassin's Review

First of all, I wanna congratulate Ninja Assassin for winning the award for "cheesiest film of the year". I mean seriously, throughout the whole movie, you can forget about the dialogue and just try to enjoy the battle scenes. The first 20-30 minutes of the movie is intolerable, and the audience have the right to leave the cinema because it really is, unendurable. However, for the remaining one hour of the film, you get really good bloody, gory, ninja fighting ninjas. Since you were born, how many ninja films did you get to see that actually HAS good quality fighting scenes? I doubt you'll even remember one. And this movie suits Korean Pop Star Rain much more than his previous movie, which was Speed Racer (which he look ridiculous in the movie). It's a plotless movie, with terrible acting, but somehow an enjoyable bloody evening to spend the night in a cinema.

Overall: 3.7 / 10

New Moon's Review

The 2nd installment of Twilight continues the love story of Bella, only this time round, werewolves are thrown into the picture as Jacob becomes a bigger part of Bella's life. Kristen Stewart, as Bella, performed better in this movie as she looks much more comfortable portraying her character now than before. In fact, the whole movie was carried by Stewart and Stewart alone. Taylor Lautner, on the other hand, is a bad actor. And I didn't like the werewolves either, they looked fake. I love the performances of Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning even though their roles were short. Overall, this movie is nothing more than a fan pleaser. I wouldn't be surprised if this movie was just another episode of True Blood. It's basically a 2 hour and 10 mins plot-less movie with a cheesy dialogue and cheesy scenes. Think it's time to look for a new director for Eclipse?

Overall: 4.0 / 10

2012's Review

This movie is so ridiculous, that it's actually quite fun at times. 2012 is a modern version of Noah's Ark. Let's face it, you're not going in the cinema and expect a good story-line; we just wanna see destruction. Guess what, 2012 is the mother of all disaster movies. The introduction was around 40 mins long, and for the remaining 2 hours, Emmerich threw everything he could at us. Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Eruptions, you name it! The C.G.I was top notch. Well, what more can we expect? It's $260 million put in good use. Here comes the bad part. Script was super cheesy (although somehow better than 10.000 B.C). And most of the thrilling scenes were escape scenes. I mean, they escape from or by a plane at least three times in the movie and they were all barely-made-it moments which was so ridiculous. Even though the movie is bullshit, it's a one hell of a ride so buckle up your seat belts and get ready to witness the end of the world!

Overall: 6.0 / 10

The Fourth Kind's Review

I wish I was abducted by aliens while I was in the cinema. The movie started by having Milla Jovovich telling us that she would be portraying the role of Dr. Abigail Tyler throughout the film. Dr. Tyler is a widow who claims that her husband was murdered in the middle of the night by "unknown" beings. So then the mystery of the movie would be - who or what killed her husband that night (and you would never have thought "what" killed him at the end of the movie). The director, Olatunde Osunsanmi, tries his best to make the movie look as realistic as possible. But how can we actually feel that it's real, when most of the scenes from the movie were half-split screens (sometimes even into Quadrants) comparing between a scene from the movie (which is fake - duh!), and a video footage which they created (which is uh....also fake!). A couple of scenes in the movie was somehow irrelevant to the story whatsoever, but it's not a big of a deal since this movie would still be a failure without it. This movie was suppose to be better than Paranormal Activity, since the budget was higher, but it fails on every level. I know every director has their first try which I could not blame, but I'm afraid Osunsanmi might not have a successful future ahead of him. After watching this movie, even extra terrestrial believers would start disbelieving in aliens.

Overall: 2.5 / 10

Men Who Stare At Goats' Review

Man, what did Clooney stumble into again. This movie is about a group of "psychic" soldiers who believe that they can pass through solid walls and even kill a goat just by staring at it. Jeff Bridges plays as Bill Django, who was a wounded Vietnam Veteran that believed he could recruit his own soldiers and teach them love, peace, and harmony in time of war and hate. George Clooney, in the movie, happens to be one of the his best students. Whereas Kevin Spacey plays as the evil student who was always jealous over Clooney's capability in psychic powers. Ewan McGregor plays as the journalist who found Clooney on his retreat away from a broken marriage, which was when the mission started - find the missing Lieutenant Bill Django. McGregor and Clooney tried their best to be funny in this film, which they succeeded halfway through. However, I started yawning throughout the other half of the movie, getting bored by the comical performance of Clooney. But complaining that the movie should end sooner would be unethical for me since the movie only lasted 1 hour and 30 minutes. The dialogue was somehow interesting and the jokes where mostly brilliant which makes Men Who Stare At Goats a good break from Paranormal Activity, if you want to ease your brain a little.

Overall: 5.4 / 10

Astro Boy's Review

Astro boy is a great movie, if you're under the age of 12. It's basically a Pinocchio-meets-Iron Giant tale about Dr Tenma (a robotics professor) who lost his son, Tobey, in an experiment. He decided to make his own Iron Man version to replace Tobey but then later realized that the robot has a characteristic of its own. The animation of the movie is slick; from the battle scenes to the hovering-around-the-sky scenes. The dialogue however, was kept G-Rated throughout the movie. Jokes like "there's a machine gun in my butt" makes anyone above the age of 16 look stupid watching the movie. The movie succeeds only to charm kids, that is why it is so difficult to review this movie. For what it's worth, we get the moral of the story; positive energy conquers negative energy. At least they made that part clear.

Overall: 3.9 / 10

Tekken 6's Review

The Iron Fist tournament is back! Tekken is one of the most successful fighting game franchise in history, and fighting fans will be more than pleased in what Tekken 6 has to offer.

First of all, I just have to state the obvious. Tekken 6 has by far the biggest character roster in its franchise, totaling to 40 totally different characters (including 6 new entrants); each with its own unique fighting style. You will take decades to remember every move and combos from all the characters. For those casual Tekken players, you will notice that the game-play is basically the same as the previous titles. One additional feature, though, is that they added the rage mode. Where your character will go berserk - increased damage - when your health bar is at a certain level. They also added back the scenario campaign mode (Tekken Force), where you control a character to take out pawns and bosses while the story progresses. Good thing is, this time the campaign mode will take longer to finish as there are a lot of areas to complete. Bad thing is, the story is crap, cut-scenes are boring, and the voice matching / acting are terrible (how can one understand each other when both speaks totally different languages?). But when you're playing a fighting game, the story mode doesn't really matter. I have to say though that the graphics for this one is disappointing; character's model texture doesn't look good, so does the environment in the maps. Another disappointing factor is the loading time for this game, it is TERRIBLE. Lastly, this game has tons of customization options for the 40 players which you get to unlock by collecting money from the game.

If you're new to the Tekken series, it will still be fun mashing up buttons while playing against friends or computer. It will take some time to understand the concept for Tekken if you're new though. And to those fans of Tekken, buy the game (duh?!). It's also a must-buy for fighting game fans if you are seeking to try out a new style for the fighting genre.

Overall: 8.5 / 10

Brutal Legend's Review

If I were to choose one word to describe Brutal Legend, it could only be one; Unique. This game is one of a kind because it has many elements in it. It's a free roam, music, third person action, strategy, adventure, and some driving game. Well every content of this game is divided thoroughly and I guess it's important equally as well. Because if I'm asked which content has the best quality, I won't be able to choose which one stands out the most.

Okay I gotta start this review by commenting on the main menu for the game; it's by far the best presentation for a game I have ever seen. I thought it's just a little something worth mentioning. As far as game-play goes, it's not bad at all. The fighting system is quite fun, you get to use axes, guitars, and even cars to slaughter your enemies. Bad thing is, for a title who has "Brutal" in its name, it doesn't live up to it. I get that there's blood, but most R rated action game who doesn't have any relevance to violence in the title has more gore and blood than this one. The strategy side of the game is the one I like most. It's simple and yet fun. You get to recruit "rockers" and command them to either follow, defend, or attack using your directional buttons. You can even use team-up attacks with your soldiers. There are also some super powers in the game which can use only when you play some note-hitting music game. I thought that was something no other game have though of. Voice talent is fantastic, especially when you have a hollywood star behind it. And if you're a rockaholic, this game's soundtrack is your dream. The story for this game doesn't really matter, though it's pretty "out-of-this-world". Oh then there's multiplayer content where you get to summon troops and your objective is to destroy your opponent's base. It's fun for a few rounds, but it's not one you will keep on coming back to.

Overall, it has almost every feature in a game but every feature is just good, not great. Nothing else needed to be said. (Oh except the fact that Jack Black is actually more funny in this game than some movies he played)

Overall: 7.9 / 10

Law Abiding Citizen's Review

Law Abiding Citizen is a torture-porn thriller directed by F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job), but that's what it all is, a torture-porn. What's actually interesting about the movie is you get to see Gerald Butler acting as a bad guy for the first time in his career. But when I was watching the movie, I didn't know that. It feels like as if the movie wants you to pity Butler's character, whose family was killed, and root for him throughout the movie which I did. I had to find out after awhile that he is actually the bad guy but I kept on rooting for him because Foxx's character in this movie is super boring. For a movie whose intention is about a guy brutally killing and torturing the people involved in his family murder, its not violent enough. They showed a scene where Butler is sadisticly (Jigsaw-like) killing one of the guy responsible for the murder, but only showed what the aftermath looked like and not the part where he actually was cutting parts of the guy. He ends up in jail, and then solitary confinement. In the confinement, he gets to get in and out of jail anytime he wants to. When he does, he start killing people who was not involve in the murder what so ever. Since when America's prison get so lame? The plot is stupid, the scenes were not sadistic enough, and it's a very forgettable movie. But for what it's worth, the movie is not boring for a 2-hour length thriller.

Overall: 4.0 / 10

Paranormal Activity's Review

Paranormal Activity is a low budget movie set in a house of a couple whom supposedly just moved in. The movie uses the "documentary" type of vibe so that it could make us feel that it's real every moment of it. Well guess what, it's GENIUS. For a very long time, there hasn't been any good American horror movies lately. Most horror movies uses the usual cheap "come-out-of-nowhere" scenes to scare you (along with the really loud sounds in case you don't get shocked). Well this movie doesn't. This movie actually makes it's environment and atmosphere so realistic that you actually feel that you're there. That's what makes the movie scary. The acting were mediocre at best. What's actually bad about the movie is that it really takes a VERY long time to high gear. I get it that it wants you to get your level of fear from level 0 and take it higher after some of the horror scenes. But it just takes too much time and it's really frustrating. It's like they forgot to entertain us and they keep too focused on making it real. So the procedure is always from day time activity and then bed time (where the ghost appears), and it keeps on repeating for at least 7-8 times and the repetitive feeling just sucks. Well, despite all that, this movie still gives the thrills and an ending which keeps lingering in your mind after you leave the theater which makes you hard to sleep.

Overall: 6.9 / 10

Uncharted 2's Review

Expect as much as you want from this game, and what this game does is just exceed your expectations beyond imagination. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is Naughty Dog's masterpiece. A metaphor would be like Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Well I don't even know where to start!

Let's start with graphics. It's PS3 pushed to the limits. Gorgeous in every aspects of the game, whether its the snow, the trees, or even Nathan Drake himself, they look so smooth and not stiff in the slightest bit. And as far as game-play control goes, Uncharted is the game to beat. Bloody smooth third person shooter controls. Story-wise, Uncharted is YET the game to beat. The scenes of this game is much better than most Hollywood movies gotta offer these days. It's so engaging and you just keep wanting more of it. The characters are interesting, the dialogues are a little bit cheesy but that's exactly the thing about Drake that makes him so fun (voice-acting is also terrific by the way). The story mode is approximately 12-14 hours in length but its non-stop fun from beggining to end. The climbing game-play is still here and it's still a hell lot of fun. There's also some stealth play which somehow works. Let's also not forget the Multiplayer feature this game has to offer, it's one where you see yourself keep coming back for it for at least a few months. We've been waiting for a third-person multiplayer like this, and it dominates every other game (such as Resident Evil 5 which you actually gotta pay 5 bucks for it) in this particular feature. Among Thieves is a mind-blowing experience and definitely a game to be inducted in my hall of fame.

Well, if you like an action / adventure game, or like climbing walls like Prince of Persia, or at least like watching cut-scenes in a game, wait a minute...scratch all that. If you like playing games, you definitely have to buy Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. You gotta either be blind, deaf, or dumb not to buy this game.

Overall: 9.7 / 10

NBA 2K10's Review

From the view of someone whose not a big of a sports-game fan, this is definitely another great year for the NBA 2K franchise. They not only strengthen their usual strong features (such as graphics, game-play, voice commentaries, soundtrack, and the realistic basketball moves), they added new features such as the NBA today. What it does is keep you updated with the current events in the NBA; like trade events, live scores, and the latest news. Another feature which I think is new (like I said, not big of a sports-game fan), is the online league where you could actually create your own tournament or season or you can also join other player's league. Another strong feature 2K10 offers is the "My Player" mode. It's very realistic in the sense that you are suppose to live a life of an actual wannabe NBA player. From the training camps, to hopefully joining an NBA team. Your character's skills will improve depending on how you play them during the practices. It's pretty fun and it will be very time consuming. Another thing I notice is that the game-play is paced slower, which is a good thing because it makes it look more realistic; rather than you turbo "Kobe" all the way to the other end of the court and make points. The bad points in this game are minor, such as navigating through the menu can be at first frustrating when you are not used to it. What's frustrating too is the option feature when you play online against another player. You could actually pause the game a total of 3 minutes for the whole 4 quarters. So it allows you to pause and play anytime you want making the other player wait while you toggle the options menu (such as showing them a replay on how good you made the last dunk). And some other really really minor negatives which really doesn't affect the game-play and worth mentioning.

Overall, it's still the best NBA game until next year. This game will keep you playing whether it's against your friends, or online. Whether it's "My Player" mode or the "Association" mode, or even the "Season" mode. Whatever it is, it will keep you busy for couple of months at least. Definitely get this game if you are fan of basketball.

Overall: 8.3 / 10