Thor Ragnarok: Psychedelic Adventure

Many people has high regards and good comments on Thor Ragnarok. They could not be too far away from the truth. No one can deny the grasp of Marvel Cinematic Universe on the super hero movie genre. DC had score a few gems lately but still yet to rival Marvel long dominion over the cinematic universe. However, most people would also agree with me that MCU had been recycling formula and struggle to find their footing lately. They still make good movie, just that... it is not as great. The only few that stood out for me was Deadpool. And Marvel learnt from that. Humour sells.



Thor Ragnarok is rather recycle super hero idea, though I could not comment how close it is to the source material. Super Hero meets his match, experience set back. Then he discover something special, either power, revelation or rediscover himself and that lead to the defeat of the villain. This time, Thor met his match in his elder sister, Hela, the Goddess of Death. (I just learnt that in the actual comic, Hela was the daughter of Loki). While nearly suffering defeat, Thor crashed to a different planet, involve in gladiator type of fight with Hulk, enroll few other character to return back to Asgard to battle Hela. Hmmm.. Been there, done that. To be fair, there was nothing special when we talk about the story.


However, visually it was a feast. Not the big explosion type of Michael Bay, but more psychedelic type of visual feast. Different use of colours. Much things going on at each screen. The script was well written with a generous dose of humour, though some may felt forced, most of them generate genuine chuckles. The action would not excite me anymore, but serve its purpose to move the story along. The only drawback was Loki conversion to being one of the heroes felt artificial. Bad guys should remain bad, period. Valkyrie character was also not written well, it just serve as a empty slot to feature another female actress.


In the end, I truly enjoyed the movie. It felt good. But like many psychedelic adventure, I guess I would not recall much of the content, just the excitement.

ratings: 3 half poink~!
comments: waiting for infinity war..

Netflix Death Note: simply sacrilegious

I promise this will be short. I love Death Note. The original manga was brilliant, remain one of my top manga story aside Naoki Kurasawa sensei's work such as 20th Century Boys. The anime was good. The Japanese movie did a fairly good job in the 2 parts. L save the world was wrong. The newer live action series did a fair job, despite not loving the ending. The new Japanese Death Note movie tried to re-imagine the series. American adaptation? Sacrilegious. It was so bad that I make sure I finish the movie to write a fair review to say how bad it is.

Dont the American learn? Adaptation do not work every time. They could have done a better job if they just write the new story as a movie based or inspire by Death Note. Netflix tried to localized the story but it just fell flat. For those who have not heard of Death Note, it is really a note book own by Death Gods or Shinigami who have the power to kill any names that were written on it. Light who chanced upon the note book began his quest to be justice for the world, killing off criminals and became the new justice for the dreamed utopia world. However, power corrupts, as the government enlisted the help of international renowned detective, L. Thus, began the brilliant story of both Ls.



The psychological thriller ended up as a B grade movie under Netflix. While the original story works with subtle suspense, Netflix depend on big explosion and gruesome way to die. Come one, decapitation? The characters are ALL wrong. Light used to be a brilliant idealist, who even kill a Shinigami in the original series. Here, Light is just a spoilt brat, craving for attention. L? From a brilliant detective, he became a confused average kid detective. They try to copy the odd Asperger-ish characteristic, but that did not help. If he was so smart, how could he allow the FBI agents who involve in the case to use their own names? Ryuk ended up being a giant gremlin. Ouch. The original story arc was brilliant in the battle between Light and L involving the FBI agents. I can go on and on, but since I promise a short review, here it is. Do not waste your time.

rating: 0 poink
comments: I am bias, since the source material was brilliant. This is simply.... sacrilegious.

Tokyo Ghould: Less than manga, entertaining nonetheless

 I'm been waiting for Tokyo Ghoul since the announcement months back and the trailer was amazing. Did the movie live up to expectation? For any adaptation there is bound to be comparison to the original work. 

While original manga had average visual (I prefer Tokyo Ghoul :re), the story was immerse with multiple layers of depth. It s not the usual type of shonen story. The good news is, the movie follow rather closely to the manga, especially the front half, took some liberty with the sequence in the later half so it will fit nicely into 120 minutes. 

The story revolve Kaneki who during a date was injured by a man eating creature called ghoul. Mortally injured,  he was transplanted with organs of the said ghoul unknowingly and ended up being half ghoul himself. The problem, despite given extra human strength and healing, ghouls can only survive on human flesh rendering them hunted by the government. The first bulk of movie focus on Kaneki's struggle of accepting hs ghoul side.  This is where the movie shine.  The spot-on portrayal by Kubota depcit accurately the struggle of discovering the monster within,  hating of what you have become,  and not able to do what other normal human do, for example eat normally.  The cries and tears is really heart wrenching.  He is later taken in by group of ghoul who work in a coffee shop, as they believe peaceful coexistence with humans.

Any observant viewer could see the resemblance with Xmen world. Gifted people who did not choose to be who they are.  Human shun them for their difference.  Protaganoist enlisted to group of peaceful outcast who believe peaceful coexistence.  Simply uncanny resemblance.  But here Tokyo Ghoul excel in realism.  The emotion was demonstrated way early in the story.  The movie had us rooted to the ghoul side despite the cannibalism but compare to the manga series,  it is much complex than that. The lingering ethical sociology commentary on both ghouls and human caught in a unfortunate war started by mother nature. No one is the actual villain,  just victims of circumstances. The casting was perfect.  The script is well paced,  as expected from any Japanese movie.  Do not expect action from start to end as Tokyo Ghoul is an emotional film more than action.  The problem cones to action sequence.  By today standard,  it is poor.the action is obviously computer generated and lack realsim.  The other flaw of the movie lies in the climax.  In the manga Kaneki's maiden major battle was woven smoothly to the story but here due to simpifying the story,  the evolution of his character felt too forced.  Its a pity that they took enough time to develop his character earlier in the movie. 

While fans of the series may appreciate more, the movie ended up being another manga adaptation. It is still good, entertaining, just because the source material is that good. If you want more, go read the manga. 

Rating: 3 poink~!

comments: very accurate portrayal of all the character.  

Little Chair: Something different

It had been ages since I last blog about food. Although I had tried nearly all the shops in my new workplace, there was lack of variety with nearly similar menu everywhere. Whenever I return to Kampar or Ipoh, I am too tired to eat out or even if I do eat out, I am too lazy to try new place.

Then, there was mid autumn. Since I am bringing my parents out, I need to find a decent place, with better food, comfortable, and easy for my dad who need a walking frame. When Little Chair is in Tin Village (the small complex which housed Econsave), it is less convenient. But now they had relocated to the row of shops near MH Unilodge. Going along the main road, along the same row as Bank Rakyat, it will be easy to spot the white bill board.

The setup is definitely less posh than it used to be. Currently it felt like a simple Chinese restaurant but it does not mean it is less comfortable. With ample car park and spacious seating, dining here is rather enjoyable. Service is attentive and at least the waitress know the dishes. Comes the menu. It is a mixture of mainly Chinese, with Vietnamese noodle and some Indonesian rice dish. To be fair, I had not try the real dishes from their respective countries so I would not know how authentic they were. But at least I enjoyed my pick for the night.

Pho Ga or vietnamese chicken noodle (RM7 for set with herbal drink) is rather localized. The broth felt very similar to any chinese chicken noodle stall but with a tinge of different herbs or spice. The noodle itself is nothing to shout about though. My nasi uduk is supposed to be Indonesian rice cooked with santan. The whole dish felt like nasi lemak with different accompanying accompanying curry. The cumi cabe ijo, curry sotong, (RM9 for set) surprisingly taste spicy without being too hot. The spicy sotong goes well with the sambal served with a tinge of citrus taste. Dad's nasi uduk with curry chicken (RM9 with set) taste equally as good. Although I expected local version of curry with lots of gravy, it turned out to be rendang ayam instead.

It was a good dinner, with both parents enjoy their food. Of course, comparing to simple stall, it might be slightly pricey, but it is way more reasoble than some hyped up restaurant. With the quality of food, I would definitely come again to sample other selections.

ratings: 3 half poink~!
comments: a good breakaway from the usual chinese/ malay/ indian offering locally. Least we can find some vietnamese/ indonesian selection in Kampar.

Restoran Little Chair
No. 2, Jalan Siswa 2,
Taman Kampar Siswa