It's been ages since I last blogged about movies, but since this year promises to have loads of cool movies, I thought it would be appropriate. So here's the list of movies in 2008 that I'm looking forward to, and why, in the order of their release dates.
1. Kung Fu Dunk: Now Showing
Starring Jay Chou, Chen Bo-Lin, Charlene Choi and Eric Tsang, this is one of the 2 big CNY movies for this year. Originally supposed to be based on the manga 'Slam Dunk', it got changed to be a mix of basketball and kung-fu. Apparently Jay makes a breakthrough and is a more comical type of character in this movie, so I'm kinda looking forward to checking it out. Some reviews I've read are that it's better than the other CNY movie, Stephen Chow's CJ7, so I'd definitely want to compare them. But I'm not loving Jay's hairstyle in this movie though, luckily it's just a wig!
Jay and Charlene with their silly hairstylesTHis is probably the other Chinese blockbuster movie of the year, as it's been awhile since Stephen Chow's last movie. It opened the same day as Kung Fu Dunk and was No.1 at the box office in Malaysia. However on my last check, the ratings were slightly lower than that of Kung Fu Dunk. THis is probably bcoz it's not exactly in the vein of Stephen's famous 'mo lei tau' brand of comedy. It's a more family oriented type of movie and he aims to make the viewers cry. And I bet most ppl didn't know that the little boy is actually a girl, who is now Stephen's god-daughter. Lucky girl huh? Lol, heard from a friend that his bro-in-law fell asleep during this movie, so wonder how it is. Will probably catch this one on DVD.
The 3 main characters of CJ7Supposedly the 1st of a trilogy, this stars Hayden Christensen (young Darth Vader), Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson and Samuel L. Jackson. It's about this guy who has the ability to jump/teleport himself from place to place on will. He kinda abuses his power as he helps himself to money from vaults, relaxes on top of the Sphinx etc. But as in the vein of all superhero type movies, with great power comes great responsibility, so there's actually this group of paladins who hunt down jumpers like him. Why? Because this power is too great for normal humans to have. Read some bad reviews of it, so will catch this on DVD or online, simply because it sounds interesting. The stunts and effects are supposedly good though.
Doesn't this pic make u wanna travel the world?4. L: Change the World: Release date - 21st Feb
This is a spin-off for L from the Death Note manga/movies. I guess bcoz it was so successful, they wanted to milk more from it, and L is pretty much the mysterious character with not much background revealed in the manga/movie, compared to Light/Kira. Apparently, it's about his final 23 days after he wrote his name in the Death Note and he has to save ppl from some virus. Initial reviews weren't that good but at least it's still the same actor portraying him. I actually didn't know about this movie till I saw the poster in a magazine.
The characters of L: Change the WorldThis is pretty much a romantic comedy, so mostly for girls. It stars Katharine Heigl (of Grey's Anatomy fame) and James Marsden (Cyclops of X-Men). Katharine plays this girl who has been a bridesmaid 27 times. U know the saying, '3 times a bridesmaid, never a bride'? Well, this is an extreme version. The reason is probably that she's too involved in other ppl's love life that she doesn't really do anything about herself. SOunds interesting and yea, I kinda want to see how James Marsden is in this movie, compared to how his character fared in Enchanted. Well, I am a sucker for rom-coms too.
James Marsden and Katherine Heigl having a candid momentYet another movie adapted from a book/series of books. This one is from the 1st of a series of 5 books and is pretty similar to that of Narnia/Harry Potter in the sense that it involves children getting into a fantastical world. Freddie Highmore plays twins in this movie and starts off as pretty much a brat who doesn't follow the rules in this book he finds. Thus, he gets hunted by the creatures i think. I havent read the books yet, coz they're pretty pricey. But it looks good so far and I heard the ending is good. Apparently better than Golden Compass but not up to LOTR standard.
Freddie Highmore and a faerie7. Speed Racer: Release date - 9th May
The big screen adaptation of our childhood cartoon, this stars Emile Hirsch as the main character, and includes Christina Ricci as his gf, Susan Sarandon and John Goodman as his parents and Matthew Fox (of Lost fame) as Racer X. So some pretty heavy starpower! Most of it was shot against green screen, so it should look pretty cool, especially since the directors, the Wachowski brothers (directed the Matrix trilogy) wanted a real-life anime feeling to it.
Here's the actor playing Speed Racer8. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: Release date - 15th May
This is actually the 2nd book in the series but story-wise, it comes after The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The 4 Penvensie children from the 1st movie return to Narnia to find that it's been 1000 years since they left (time passes much faster there u see). THey now need to help Prince Caspian (played by Ben Barnes, pretty much a newcomer but hot) to reclaim the throne from his evil uncle. Kinda familiar story huh? But yea, the trailer looks pretty cool and c'mon, it's a big fantasy movie. Just the type I like though I did complain that the battles weren't realistic coz there was no bloodshed at all. What to do, it's a kid's movie.
9. Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Release date: 22nd May
I just saw the trailer and it brings back nostalgic memories. They intentionally filmed it in the style of the previous 3 movies and used very little CGI so that it would seem more realistic. Even Indy himself admits that he's getting old and makes mistakes, which makes him more human. It's supposed to b 19 yrs since his last adventure and he now has a new sidekick, Mutt (played by Shia LeBeouf, who's now hot property after Transformers). Cate BLanchett plays a baddie, so at least they've added some new blood, which helpfully are currently hot. BUt with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas involved, it should be a huge movie this summer! Check out the trailer.
10. The Incredible Hulk: Release date - 13th June
Edward Norton is the new Hulk and he wasn't exactly the type I'd imagine, but yea Dr. Bruce Banner was pretty shy looking type right? And I guess guys would look forward to the movie just to ogle at Liv Tyler too. I wasn't a big Hulk fan, but I do usually want to check out the big blockbusters.
Teaser poster for The Incredible HulkHellboy returns, with his gf, the blue-fire starting Liz, and Abe Sapien. There's lots more monsters and less of the old historical baddies from the 1st movie. The original's director returns, so it should be pretty consistent with the 1st, which wasn't all that bad. So yea, yet another summer blockbuster to look forward to. C'mon...more monster ass to kick..that should be good, right?
First look at the good guysChristian Bale returns as Batman and Maggie Gyllenhaal (sister of that Jake of Brokeback Mountain fame) replaces Katie Holmes as the love interest. There are 2 confirmed baddies, namely the Joker and Harvey Dent, who eventually turns into 2-Face. Another returning baddie from Batman Returns, the Sandman also appears. Plus there's also a cameo by Edison Chen (now infamous for his sex pics with MANY HK actresses/singers) as a yet unknown baddie. Wow, so many baddies and just one superhero? Awesome! But the 2 main baddies kinda reminds me of Batman Forever, coz they were in it too. HOwever, the main pull to this movie is that it was pretty much the final complete role of Heath Ledger (Rest in Peace!), who plays the diabolical Joker. From the trailer, you can see just how demented and evil he is, compared to the Joker as played by Jack Nicholson who seemed more jolly. So it'll be kinda ironic for audiences to watch the movie, as they'll sort of associate the role with what actually happened.
13. The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: Release date - 24th July
Brendan Fraser returns as Rick O'Connell to help save the world from a new mummy, an ancient Chinese wizard, accidentally awakened by Rick's now teenaged son. Jet Li stars as the new baddie and our very own Datuk Michelle Yeoh's in it too. Rachel Weisz doesn't return as Evie so that kinda sucks coz I tot they were a hot couple. I don't know about this movie, coz the 1st 2 were obviously B-grade movies on purpose, but somehow this doesn't really appeal to me as much as before. But yea, I'd still like to see how they incorporate the whole Chinese element in and change it up from the Egyptian style. But at least it'll still be funny, one way or another...I hope!
Jet Li kicking butt (as usual) as a Chinese mummy (doesn't look like it)14. Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince: Release date - 20th November
The 6th in the series and gets even darker than the 5th movie. Harry gets a hold of this old Potions book and with its tips, begins to do well in his potions class. Lucky for him, Snape no longer teaches potions but Defense against the Dark Arts. But Lord Voldemort's strength is growing and he's recruiting more and more members so things are getting worse in the magical world. Harry's also learning more about how Lord Voldemort changed from a boy till his evil 'reign'. If you've read the book, you'll know how it ends, so I'm really curious as to how they'll show the ending. It's a really big deal so they better do it well.
The now all-grown up cast of Harry PotterIt's currently filming in New Zealand and is expected to set place in Japan and Canada, as per the comic's origins. They will explain more about Wolverine's past and will apparently show him fighting ninjas and more. Wolverine will be even more of a badass than ever and Sabretooth, among others will show up. SOunds damm cool and yes, more of Hugh Jackman pls!
Whoa, check out the muscles!So yea, this looks like a great year for movies, just like the previous 2 years. See you at the movies!
Note: Info and pics of the above movies have been taken from Cinema Online magazine, Rotten Tomatoes website, Wikipedia and various blogs and sites.
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