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