kellykylie

ok i finally have time for a proper blog today.. the last entry was more like for my own record la. haha.. i thot it wud b fun to read nex year during CNY to see wat i did the year before.. tho i suspect it wud b exactly the same routine. hahahah!

so for today, i have decided to start with movie reviews! i saw 2 movies over the CNY holidays - "Jumper" and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street".

JUMPER

as the trailer promises, it indeed is a mix of "The Matrix" and "Bourne Identity". altho it was a short film (a mere hour and 20 minutes), it was very entertaining and fast-moving, perhaps the reason why it was such a short film! :p but the show was realli abt quality, not quantity..

i cud not help but think at the end of the show that hayden christensen has a look of the "in-between". like he is both good and bad.. but not too good nor bad. like his role in Star Wars, it was like he was a good person by nature.. but was forced to do evil things due to circumstances.. and these things, which seemed right at the point of doing it (which means he still did it with a good heart).. turns out to be wrong in the end (and labels him as the bad guy.. which is kinda against his will.. wa, a bit complicated!) which is why i say he is the "in-between" guy.

his role in JUMPER was also a bit of an in-between kinda character.. he is a good guy who is perceived as doing wrong things even tho he doesn't harm anyone nor does he have the intention to.. and the look of confusion and desperation is a trademark for him.. he did it so well in Star Wars and even better in JUMPER. he still has a tinge of adolescence in his acting and it makes his desperation even more convincing.

rachel bilson's role was quite disappointing tho. she didn't get many chances to showcase her acting and most of the time she was jus eye-candy. but then again.. i believe this is her 1st movie role since the OC times so i hope she gets bigger roles down the road and earn herself some worthy credits. her raunchy scene with hayden christensen in the show was quite sexy tho. they look like a very cosmopolitan couple and with all that high-tech effect and futuristic storyline, it makes the whole movie gel beautifully.

after the show ended, the 6 of us who went to see it tgt wished we all could "jump" too! and i wonder if there realli are JUMPERS in the world.. it is super cool!!

i give JUMPER 4.5 stars out of 5. 0.5 stars lost cuz the movie was realli too short.. would have loved it to be a wee bit longer and build up a bit more on rachel's character.

SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
like i said in my previous entry.. this show was such a joke. but taking into consideration it was adapted from a broadway musical.. i can understand why it turned out like tt for the movie..

the last show i saw that was so dark has got to be THE PRESTIGE. for those who don't rem this show, it was abt 2 magicians/illusionists who were vying for the top spot in the industry and also featured Scarlett Johansson. difference is the darkness in THE PRESTIGE was apt for the movie as the story was a dark and brooding one.. but for SWEENEY TODD.. it seems very deliberate.. like everything in the show is revolved ard making it a very dark show.. like how broadway sets are designed.. to suit a theme. and when this feel is duplicated in the movie, it makes it look very forced and unnatural..

the story is actually quite a sad one.. and i do get the drift of the show.. but somehow all the opera singing in the show killed the emotion and story-building MANY TIMES. somehow the singing felt a bit amusing and comical at times.. issit that the actresses and actors cud not deliver the right emotions in their singing?? or maybe the lyricists and composers felt this would make the movie livelier?? or maybe it is just me. but each time they start singing, i have a huge sense of dread and i want them over and done with their singing so i can get to the story. I KNOW I KNOW!! cuz the songs dun realli gel with the story.. it does not help to build up on the story.. they are singing for the sake of singing since it is supposed to be a musical! dun misunderstand me, i thoroughly enjoyed "Moulin Rouge" and "Chicago" and have re-watched both movies many times.. but Sweeney Todd simply pales in comparison.. it's like every song in Moulin Rouge and Chicago tells a story of the movie.. but in Sweeney Todd, the songs jus don't have the same effect..

could it be because of the story? Moulin Rouge and Chicago both have something to do with performing and broadway, hence singing made sense.. but Sweeney Todd is about a demon barber who kills so singing in the movie is weird??

i give Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber From Fleet Street 2.5 stars out of 5. giving it a pass cuz i see the effort taken to make the set so beautifully dark and for the surprise twist at the end.

that's all for my movie reviews today. i did my best not to divulge the story while reviewing it so u guys can't blame me for spoiling it! :)