Journey to the West 2013 Conquering the Demons: A full Stephen Chow's ride

Stephen Chow. You either love him or loathe him for his take on slapstick comedy. Fortunately, I fall in the earlier category. I absolutely love him in his directorial debut in 008, one of the best scripted Flirting Scholar and of course his younger days Fight Back to School series. Of course who can  forget the tide turning Shaolin Soccer and the meticulously done Kung Fu. However CZ-7 saw his demise and his deterioration. When there is a news that he will have another remake of Journey to the West, I have my doubts. Dozens and dozens of remakes both in movies and series were mediocre and forgettable. Of course this is not the first time Stephen Chow remake Journey to the West. His last attempt was even split into 2 movies. The story was brilliant, mixture with amnesia, time travel and essentially a love story. Alas, it was so-so executed so much so that not many people remember much of the movie except the funny rendition of " Only You".



Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 2013 (JTW) probably is another turning point. After waiting so many years we finally see another Stephen Chow's movie, which used to be a staple diet for any Chinese New Year. However, this time he concentrated on the director's chair. Good idea but I really miss him on- screen. Although that most of the facial expression in this movie do mimic his style of over-expression and dead panned humour, noone can do it the way he does.



First, the story is simple. It is a prequel to JTW journey. It tells of a novice monk trying to convert monsters believing that there are still good in them and opt for the rehabilitation path. He met up with another female hardcore counterpart and fell in love. In his inadequacies, his master suggested him to look up Monkey King to defeat the Pig Demon. The problem is Monkey King is the ultimate bad-ass who was imprisoned by Buddha below a mountain. Of course, he is released by accident and the finale is a showdown between the demon catchers and the Monkey King and how the monk gain his 3 disciples. The story, somehow is predictable especially if you have watched Stephen Chow's first JTW. The similar theme of sacrifice is the theme which drive the story.



I cant comment much of the casting, but casting new faces in his movies does have its pros and cons. Wen Zhang do have a lot of similarities with Stephen Chow's expression. Huang Bo really do show his expression in playing Monkey King and ShuQi breeze through her role without any sweat. However I still prefer familiar HongKong faces to play the role but then again, that is my own preferences. ShuQi still cant speak cantonese by the way. I suspect the movie is not meant for Cantonese release so that would explain the whole choices.



Action is expected. The CGI is however, disappointing. With such as big budget, the CGI do look very very cartoonish. The opening rendition of the river monster was really laughable rather than scary. The only exceptions were the CGI sequence of battle which was done nicely. This part of CGI had been the forte of Chinese movies anyway. The humour is really good with abundant Stephen Chow's moment and it will definitely remind you of his earlier movies. One thing to note is certain sequences are rather disturbing such as how people dies in the hand of the demons. It was rather graphical that will leave nightmares in children.



Overall, it is still felt like a Stephen Chow's movie even without him on screen. One will still laugh until the end, which is the whole point of catching a CNY movie. I left the cinema feeling good despite catching it in a late night slot. I can't say that this is the CNY movie of the year since I have not watched the rest but I cant tell you that you would not regret watching this.

ratings: 3 half poink!
comments: extra poink for being a Stephen Chow's movie. For a Stephen Chow fan like me, this is a must-watch to ease the drought for so many years.

Mike's Berger Bakar: fresh reboot of roadside burger

burger grill BBQ style: Burger Bakar

I have a soft spot for road side burger stall. They had come a long way from my uni days to my houseman days. I still recall how I love the hot Ramli burger served with extra mayo, more than I love McD. However, the stalls had mushroomed so much in the recent years that it became... generic. Yes, I know that a few burger stood above the rest, some with the black pepper sauce (personal favorite) and some new oblong burger. And recently with the burger "kaw kaw" trend, there is the new home made patty trend with grill burger BBQ style.

Mike's Berger Bakar (not sure whether it is spelling error or Malay translation for burger) is situated deep in Gunung Rapat, just opposite Maybank. Where exactly? It is along the main road of Gunung Rapat, either entering from Jalan Gopeng via Petronas or Pantai Hospital via Politeknik Ungku Omar on the opposite direction. Just locate the row of shop with Old Town White Coffee in the corner with Sin Yeung Wai Duck Rice shop and Yee Hup Biscuit the same row. Across the road up the hilly slope will be Maybank. And at night, is this particular stall manned by a few young chaps.

the familiar burger station

The menu is basically burger with normal burger costing RM2.50. But the stars of the stall are their home made patty. The burger starts from RM6 for chicken and RM6.50 for beef. Variation of Mexican patty which is supposedly bit spicy, Italian with herbs and American patty. After choosing your patty, choose your sauce. I chose percik sauce with my Mexican chicken patty. Looking at them preparing the patty is a joy. Roughly an inch thick, it is a rather meaty patty. After that, they will grill the patty in open fire BBQ style. This is "burger bakar" after all. They even offer free delivery within the vicinity for order of at least 5 burgers.

despite the not-so-nice appearance,
it is actually quite good

The verdict? The burger is definitely thick. Really thick. The percik sauce is  really really superb (ayam percik is, after all, my favourite Kelantan dish). The patty is not bad, however, I cant really taste the spices. I do not blame the patty though, it is because of the percik sauce is so nice and strong that it overflow the patty. The consistency is average, I prefer it to be more "solid". However, the effect of open grill is above the  normal cooked burger. I can taste the grilled taste which can only be tasted via BBQ. The downfall of this burger is the bread. Instead of more quality bread, I felt the bread was bit of letdown. It felt cheap, the kind of poor consistency once toasted.

Overall, it is a wonderful experience. Given the lack of stall with home made patty, this is definitely a great stall to visit. And the taste is great, the owners are friendly, I can definitely overlook the shortfall and come visit again.

ratings: 3 half poink!
comments: 2 shortfall. The bread which do not complement the patty and sauce. The price, RM 6 for a roadside basic burger is a bit steep. I rather have a cheaper price with thinner patty. But since they made the percik sauce so well and the patty so nice (I bet the Italian version should be better), this had became my new favourite burger stall.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunter: all style and just style

There is only one single reason why we came. Jeremy Renner. Since Hurtlocker, we fell in love with him. Although he is still no Legolas, he still make a good Hawkeye in Avengers. Then came Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunter. The trailer do look exciting, stylish. Then came the opening credit. MTV? What??? Then I have my greatest fear... all style and no substance.




Well, it was not that bad. The story pick up from the nursery story. Hansel and Gretel left by their father and assumed step-mother found a candy house. After catching them, Gretel had to work as a free maid and Hansel got fed to become a big fat piece of meat for stew. They manage to get free and kill the witch. Subsequently, they became witch hunter and hunt witch for a living. Interesting. The story started when they came to a town where lots, and lots of children were kidnapped. They investigate and finally bump into the dark grand witch and a scheme about some blood moon conspiracy to transform the witches to immune to fire. Big deal. Throw in some good witch, a boy who aspire to become witch hunter and there you have the whole movie.



The story is really paper thin. So many illogical plot, for example why did the troll turn good? Characters are 2 dimension, not much developments at all. The action, when there is, is actually not bad. Though it is not as gritty, more of the slow-mo stylish fights. The weapons are really innovative but the exciting parts are really really too few in between. Most of the time, Hansel is running around with shot gun and Gretel, a crossbow. However, there are certain things which make the show. The castings are great. Jeremy Renner is perfect as the gritty bad-ass Hansel, much alike to his character in Hurtlocker who do not give a damn to anything. Gemma Arterton, somehow shines as the mysterious type with some emotional burden somewhere deep inside. The humour in one liner is great but the chemistry between the 2 is not so believable. I rather have the 2 to be a pair of lovers rather than siblings.



In the end, despite all the shortcoming, it is still and enjoyable movie. Just leave some part of the brain outside the cinema and probably it will be an enjoyable outing.

ratings: 2 half poink!
comments: surprisingly by labeling the movie 18 above, there is whole lot of F word and heads being curt off. Way to go censorship! Finally they grew some balls and finally hit puberty.