Puss in Boots: nice family outing, if you have kids

I am always a fan of Shrek, and that includes all character inside the show, minus Donkey. Naturally, that would compel me to watch the newest spin off which is Puss in Boots. Coming from Dreamworks, I would expect it to be on par with Shrek at least. The trailer, seems to be promising as well.



So, my wife and I step into the cinema with high hopes. One third of the cinema were children, but luckily they were well behaved throughout the show, making the experience of watching movie with kids bearable.



The story is simple, Puss met his old friend Humpty Dumpty and they enlist Kitty Softpaw to steal magic beans from Jack and Jill. With the beans, as expected, they climb up to the sky to visit Giant's castle to steal the magic goose which lays golden eggs. (spoiler ahead). It all ended up as Humpty's elaborated plan for revenge from Puss and their childhood village. I would not spoil the movie by revealing the ending but one would have guess Humpty would come back to his senses.



Animation? Good, as expected from Dreamwork. Not groundbreaking, and did not manage to catch the 3D version, but good.
Voiceover? Top notched, as expected from Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek.
Story? family oriented. No excessive violence, sex or anything that will spoil the 8 years old



So, what is the problem. Actually none. The whole movie felt like it was made for the 8 years old, sterile. Action is there, but nowadays action is in most movies that nothing stand out. The jokes are rather bland, more suited for children rather than adults. The sense of adventure is also rather mild, being the journey to Giant's castle the only thing that stand out. It was also not as touching as UP, so it did not have any moment for adults. The only near hit was when Puss and Humpty recalled back their childhood dream of stealing the magic goose.

In conclusion, it is a very nice movie for a family outing with kids. Otherwise, do not expect much from it, and probably will enjoy it more. It is not a movie that will get you talking about it after the show, or something that I will remember 2 weeks down the road.

ratings: 3 poink!
comments: nice movie, but lack the impact to adults.
comments: got kids, watch. otherwise, you may have other choice.

Immortals:this film destine to be mortal, and fatal

I love 300. I saw from the trailer that Immortals would be in 300 leagues. I was sooooo wrong.

First the story. Evil king wanted to find a bow to release the Titans, so he can control human, and wage war with the Greek Gods. In the process, he basically torture people in order to locate the bow. He also killed our Hero's mother. He became reluctant hero, saved a virgin oracle whom basically is the only one who can locate the bow. Evil king got the bow, release the Titans. Gods came and fight. Hero kills evil King. THE END.

... so I wished. The acting was bearable actually. Mickey Rourke was really chilling as Hyperion, the evil king. The protagonist also was quite good, he really reminds me of superman. The action was not too bad. More or less like 300.

BUT, the downfall......

the dialogue: cheesy, so cheesy that Pizza Hut 7 cheese pizza will pale in comparison. Everyone wanted to sound so philosophical that it become unreal.

the casting: I really love Zeus. With the moustach, he really looked "gaya", but casting Athena was ridiculous. He was supposed to be her father, but they look more like a pair of lovers...Euuuuu

the story: the hole in the whole story is so big that even a camel could not plug it. What was Hyperion building that he needed slave? He just wanted the bow. Why when Zeus battle the Titans, he only bring a few Gods: even those who go into gang fights know that strength is in numbers. (he should learn more from young and dangerous movie). why would He even bother to fight when in the end, he just pull the plug and buried the Titans? Why would the sidekick so loyal to the Hero? Why would the Helenites listen to him when they first see him?

the action: it looks ok at one point. 300 makes it looks stylish. But here, the slo-mo was overused that it became tedious.

the costume: I know the costume basically wanted to show the abds for others to see, but some of the Gods costume was ridiculous. Greek God which looks like a cock? Priestess who wore spring onion on her head? The head of Greek council who dress like a stage magician? come on....

only a guys whom had never watched 300 may enjoy this. Otherwise, just give it a miss.

ratings: 2 poink!

comments: illogical, cheesy. the only reason to watch this is most of the guys run around half naked, so one could enjoy ga-ga over their 6 packs abdomen.

Dubliners Cafe: nice halal outing

Wehad actually passed by this shop many times. Those who knows me well will know that the main reason I always give this place a pass is I always go for

pork chop. But since today, I felt like giving the oink a rest, wife and me decided to pay this joint a visit.

Dubliners cafe, situated in Greentown business square, within stone throw distance from YeOlde English. Look for the old Oldtown Kopitiam site, opposite an empty space now used as car park, it is in the middle of the row of shops. The restaurant is there for quite some time, which is a good sign, considering across the road, there are restaurant which kept changing names.

This restaurant had all the deco as a contemporary cafe, hinting western food served. The interior is rather comfortable. Service is good, with a few young Malay chaps running the whole show. The joint is open for both lunch and dinner.

Food: you guess it. Halal western food. The range is rather good and diversify, from the usual chicken chop to chicken kiev; from pasta to fried rice. There is even a tinge of thai with somtam. There are pies and lasagna as well. First is my selectoin of Dubliners chicken chop (RM10.80). I thought dish with the restaurant name will sort of be the chef's recommendation. The chicken was not too huge, grilled with "special" sauce which is based on black pepper sauce. There are few pieces of vege on top, which is a nice idea. However, the taste, although being special sauce, is not so special to me, it just taste like black pepper sauce though not as strong. It was bit on the bland side as well. Lasagna (RM10.50) was ok to me though. I would expect it to be more cheesy, but for those who is not crazy about the yellow milk product, I guess the amount was just nice. The meat inside was nicely done. I had to admit that I have not tried many lasagna before, but I certainly taste better.

I would never say the food here is not good, in fact, it is up to par and better than most psedo-western kopitiam style western food. But I had higher expectation here, and the taste came back bit bland.

ratings: 3 poink!

comments: food here is actually alrite, average, but above all, it is halal, so it is accessible to everyone.

Dubliners Cafe

7, Persiaran Greentown 8

Greentown Business Centre

Ipoh

016-6283470