Category: Movies

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On July 26, 2009

I watched Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince twice. Once in Powerplant and the 2nd one in Ultra 7 Cinema. The 1st time that I watched it, I ended up sleeping 15mins into the movie & I only woke up like after an hour and a half. We ended up going home early coz I can’t seem to control my sleepiness hehehe 😛

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Harry Potter movies. I don’t understand as well why I fell asleep when I first watched it considering that I’ve been waiting for the movie for the longest time. When we watched it again, I made sure that I won’t be sleepy, good thing I didn’t though I fell asleep like twice for 5 seconds hahaha!

Anyway, I heard from the people who watched it in IMAX, only the 1st 15 minutes of the movie is in 3D. The movie started with Death Eaters attacking the muggle & wizardry world w/c is made perfectly. Though the next scenes, I believe are just dragging & boring. I was a bit disappointed on how the movie was done considering that Book 6 is one of the best from the Harry Potter Series (Book 7 being the other one). I felt it didn’t do the book justice and the movie concentrated on the love triangle between Ron, Hermione & Lavender as well as Harry, Ginny & Dean.

The major takeaway from this is that Dumbledore is…. dead & Snape is… the half-blood prince.

My rating for this movie is 2 out of 5 stars but if I’m going to rate the book, I will rate it 5 out of 5.

Official Website of Rochelle Sy Chua where she talks about her travel experiences in Taipei, Taiwan, Philippines and Asia, as well as her adventures in food and restaurants

Orphan Movie Review

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On July 25, 2009

Last night, Warner Bros. Pictures invited some bloggers to watch the press screening of Orphan. Thanks to Warner Bros. Pictures for this opportunity, Orphan is definitely one of the BEST suspense movies I’ve ever seen.

The movie is about a couple (Kate & John) who was devastated for the loss of their unborn child. To regain normalcy in their lives, they decided to adopt another child.

As soon as they welcome Esther into their lives, an alarming series of events begins to unfold, leading Kate to believe that there’s something wrong with Esther – this seemingly angelic little girl who is not what she appears to be.

Concerned for the safety of her family, Kate tries to get John & others to see past Esther’s sweet facade. But her warning went unheeded until it seem to be too late.

As we watch the movie, I came to a point that I thought that the movie is sick. It’s a bit disturbing to watch a child kill people (brutally!!). But as the story became clearer, I understood why and realized that what a great movie this is! Totally unpredictable, unique & well-made.

The actors are just perfect for their roles. I believe their acting in the movie is oscar-worthy. *clap clap*

My rating for this movie is 5 stars (4.5/5). I totally recommend this movie though this is not fit for kids.

Let me end this post by sharing the trailer for the movie:

Official Website of Rochelle Sy Chua where she talks about her travel experiences in Taipei, Taiwan, Philippines and Asia, as well as her adventures in food and restaurants

Terminator Salvation Movie Review

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On July 13, 2009

Thanks to Columbia Pictures & TV5 for the opportunity to watch this. I liked this movie a lot mostly because of Sam Worthington who played Marcus Wright in this Terminator Franchise. He just looked so tough and his heart of gold is pretty obvious in this movie, he really portrayed his role excellently. I can feel his character

The movie started with Dr. Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter’s character) convincing Marcus to sign his body over a medical research. Marcus is set to undergo lethal injection that day.

Terminator is basically a movie about a war between human & machines. John Connor (Christian Bale’s Character) is fated to lead the resistance against Skynet & terminators. John sends radio broadcasts to surviving resistance members & civilians around the world. This was being listened by Kyle Reese who’s with Marcus who he rescued from a terminator. Unfortunately, Kyle was held prisoner by the machines while they were on their way to John’s Base. Marcus arrived at John’s base wounded & resistance fighters discovered that he is a cyborg with human heart thus distrusting him. Marcus convinced John that he is human & would only want to save Kyle. The 2 formed an alliance and they were able to save Kyle & the other prisoners, winning the battle.

I loved this movie that much that I ended up watching it twice. 1st was the blogger premiere and the other was with a friend. There was one scene that I find so funny! When Arnold Schwarzeneger went out as a T-800 model 101 terminator ahahhahaa I was just laughing so hard, just made it a genuine terminator movie

My Rating for Terminator Salvation: 4 out of 5 stars.

Official Website of Rochelle Sy Chua where she talks about her travel experiences in Taipei, Taiwan, Philippines and Asia, as well as her adventures in food and restaurants

Night at the Museum – Battle of the Smithsonian

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On July 12, 2009

Thanks to SM for letting us watch this movie for free during the Sky Garden Launch at SM City North Edsa.

This is a sequel to Night at the Museum (2006). Ben Stiller reprises his role as Larry Daley. In this movie, he was shown to have left his previous job as a night guard to the American Museum of Natural History and moved on as the head of Daley Devices. Daley Devices is a company he founded where he manufactures his inventions like the Glow-in-the-Dark Flashlight (actually after I saw the demo in the movie, I really would like to have one!!!).

Anyway, Larry visits the museum to check on his friends and apparently learned that the museum is closed for renovation. He also learned that some of his museum exhibit friends will be moved to the Federal Archives at the Smithsonian Institution and some including the tablet will be left at the museum. Since the tablet is responsible for putting back into life to his friends, he would need to do something.. that’s where the story revolved [Him trying to save his friends, retrieving the tablet, meeting Amelia Earheart (Amy Adams’ character), etc…]

The movie is entertaining, funny & cute! I’m sure people from all ages & sizes will love this.

My Rating for Night at the Museum – Battle of the Smithsonian: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Official Website of Rochelle Sy Chua where she talks about her travel experiences in Taipei, Taiwan, Philippines and Asia, as well as her adventures in food and restaurants

Angels & Demons Movie Review

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On June 24, 2009

When I watch movies, I really dont try to analyze it so much. I just sit, relax and watch. I never read the book and I don’t plan to read it in the future.

I would like to thank TV5 for the opportunity to watch this movie at their special screening. I’m sorry that this post is soooooo long overdue. Got problems with my DSL connection at home so didn’t really have the means to go online (will post about this soon).

I’m more impressed with this movie than Da Vinci Code. Unfortunately though, I fell asleep on most parts as I was tired and I watched this movie alone. I even remember my seatmate asking me if I want to eat chips hahaha

Still, I was able to comprehend what the movie is about and I’m super impressed with Tom Hanks… he was superb in this movie – wayyyyyyy better than how he portrayed his role during the prequel. Ewan McGregor is super impressive here as well. Pretty good casting, love it.

The movie started with vial of antimatter being stolen and someone getting killed in the process. The Vatican sought the help of Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) to solve this and also the kidnapping of the 4 bishops who are candidates to become the Pope’s successor. Apparently, a secret society called the Illuminati kidnapped the 4 bishops and threaten to kill them 1 by 1 every hour then destroy the vatican after.

So there, Tom’s character was trying to figure out where the bishops might be and save them. There’s a big twist at the end as well, guess who is behind of it all?

Overall, a movie that is worth watching. I know that most of the theaters dont show this anymore but once the DVD is out and you haven’t watched the movie, go get it

My Rating for Angels & Demons: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Official Website of Rochelle Sy Chua where she talks about her travel experiences in Taipei, Taiwan, Philippines and Asia, as well as her adventures in food and restaurants