Yowazzup: A Directory of Happening Things

Astro Boy is a computer animated film based loosely on the Japanese series of the same name.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Astro Boy

Set in futuristic Metro City, a small city that floats on top of Earth, Toby Tenma (Freddie Highmore) is an 11-year-old boy genius whose father is the Head of Ministry of Science. Toby sneaks into the demonstration room when his father and other scientist are experimenting with the two cores of energy, a “positive” (good) blue core and a “negative” (evil) red core and he ends up evaporated by a robot called “The Peacekeeper” which is powered by red core.

Devastated by the lost of his son, Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage) works day and night to create a robot that reassembles his son and has all of Toby’s memory by using the hair strand of his son left on the cap. He powers him up with the blue core and is excited to spend time with his son, he soon realizes it isn’t the same and the new Toby reminds him that his son is gone.

By accident, Toby learns that he is actually a robot and can fly but President Stone also discovers Toby’s blue core energy and tries to capture him. He ends up on the surface of Earth and finds a group of kids led by a caretaker named Hamegg as well as some robot friends to learn the purpose and true meaning of life only to be forced to fight ala Roman style with other robots in a stadium with robots after Hamegg reveals Astro as a robot. Astro forcefully wipe out all the robots but refuses to fight Zog, a giant construction robot which he revives using his blue core energy. The military then arrives and captures Astro.

Back in the lab which Astro is created, Dr. Tenma takes out the blue core and apologizes to Astro but Astro apologizes for not able to be a better son. Dr. Tenma’s conscience comes to mind when he almost gives the blue core to President Stone. Instead, he puts it back in Astro and tells him to escape. Stone uses the red stone to activate The Peacekeeper but is absorbed into it. The Peacekeeper then goes on rampage, destroying everything in its path in order to get Astro. In the end, Astro sacrifices himself to stop the Peacekeeper and dies since the blue core was drained from the explosion.

Zog then arrives and revives Astro with some of the blue core energy Astro gave him previously.

Overall, Astro Boy is a brilliant animated film with great morale value. The film is suitable for kids and adult alike and is a great way to introduce the original Japanese manga to everyone. Astro Boy may be a robot, but he certainly has a great heart, or more like a “positive” core. So, is the movie.

My ratings: 8 out of 10.

Popularity: 1%

2012 is an action-packed disaster film about the apocalypse which the Mayan has predicted to be the end of the world.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

John Cusack in "2012"

The movie mainly revolves around Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) who is a writer and a part-time limousine driver. His ex-wife Katie (Amanda Peet) and his children live together with her boyfriend, Gordon (Thomas McCarthy). Occassionally, Curtis takes his children for an outing.

Dr. Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his counterpart in India have discovered that extraordinary phenomenon of a sun burst occurring in the sun and he begins to alert the President’s Chief of Staff, who later alert the President of the United States (Danny Glover). With that, a secret organization is formed to save mankind by building ship vessels beneath the Himalayan mountains while the public remains clueless of the upcoming disaster.

Soon, Earth’s crust displacement occurs all over the world causing cracks on the roads and before long, major cities in the world turn into dust. Curtis manages to rent a plane to save his family but his plane soon runs out of fuel, forcing him to join his limousine boss, Yuri (Zlatko Buric) who has a bigger plane.

The movie has similarity like the classic movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still” where the film depicts the end of the world and mankind are being saved.

Although mankind is saved in the end, many dies in the process and almost the entire world is filled with water except the Africa continent, which ground level has risen and the new era begins.

Overall, it is indeed an action-packed thriller, somehow, the movie is also filled with a lot of special effects and sometimes, it’s too unreal as the main characters are invincible, especially the Curtis family.

My ratings: 7 out of 10.

Popularity: 1%

Michael Jackson’s This Is It is a concert film documenting Michael Jackson’s rehearsals of the concert series of the same name. The concert which was scheduled to start on July 13, 2009 was abruptly cancelled because of his death on June 25, 2009. The film shows Jackson mentoring his team, creating, developing, directing and staging the performances.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Michael Jackson’s This Is It

Directed by Kenny Ortega, the film features 24 songs from his albums. The film starts with a small introduction text followed by audition for dancers and rehearsals of songs and dance choreography. The highlight of the film includes the remake of “Thriller” 3D version, amazing high-tech stage set ups, duet rehearsal with Judith Hill for “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” and lots of special effects and something we have never seen before.

The movie ends with “This Is It” and “Heal the World” during the credits. Some notable songs weren’t featured include “You Are Not Alone”, “Remember The Time” and “Ben”.

Overall, from a neutral perspective, the film is well produced with superior sound editing, great cinematography combining different angles of the rehearsal footage. As a fan, we get to see the making of what would be the best concert of the century if “This Is It” were to be shown “Live”. Michael Jackson’s a perfectionist, a great singer, a superb dancer, a well-respected director, a mastermind and most of all, a loving soul.

My ratings: 8 out of 10.

Popularity: 1%

Surrogates is a science fiction film based on the 2005–2006 comic book series The Surrogates. Directed by Jonathan Mostow, the movie stars Bruce Willis.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell in "Surrogates"

In the year 2017, mankind lives their lives using “surrogates”, an advanced robotic bodies with the aesthetic of the human beauty and rarely step out from their homes. However, there are minorities which oppose the usage of surrogates known as The Dread.

When the teenage son of the surrogates inventor is killed through the surrogate, FBI Agent Tom Greer (Bruce Willis) and his partner, Agent Jennifer Peters (Radha Mitchell) begin to investigate. When they find out about the advanced weapon and the killer, more and more surrogates and operators are killed.

Agent Greer is suspended from the FBI when he invaded the compound of The Dread in his relentless pursue of Miles Strickland (Jack Noseworthy), the murderer of surrogates. Greer, therefore, continues to investigate without the use of surrogates. When Greer finds out the truth, he realizes Strickland has been killed by The Prophet and his followers. It is learnt that the corporation which owns the right to “surrogates” has hired Andrew Stone (Boris Kodjoe), Greer and Peters’ supervisor to get rid of Dr. Lionel Canter (James Cromwell), the inventor of the surrogates.

While the movie portrays the advanced technology of using “surrogates” body, the film is highly superficial and portrays mankind is slowly losing touch to the nature and perhaps, the way to live. In some ways, the movie has a bad influence with the usage of drugs and alcohol. One of the least entertaining movies that star Bruce Willis, that’s for sure.

My ratings: 6 out of 10.

Popularity: 1%

Sorority Row is a horror movie remake of the 1983 film The House on Sorority Row.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Briana Evigan, Rumer Willis, Leah Pipes, Jamie Chung, Margo Harshman, Audrina Patridge in "Sorority Row"

Megan (Audrina Patridge) discovers that her boyfriend, Garrett is cheating on her, with her sorority sisters help, Megan pulls a prank on Garrett by faking her own death. However, the prank goes awry when Garrett stabs Megan with a tire iron, actually killing her this time. The girls dump Megan’s body in the mineshaft, vowing not to even speak of the event again.

Eight months later, after the graduation, the sorority sisters throw a huge party. Chugs leaves the party to go to her sex appointment. However, he is killed when a hooded man turns up. Chugs is killed after that with a wine bottle shoved down her throat.

Then the killer taunts the girls by sending them the video of Megan’s death and threatens to report it to the police if they don’t show up within 20 minutes. The sisters go back to the mineshaft only to find Megan’s body missing. As the hooded killer tries to kill the girls one by one, the mystery and surprise comes to a sudden halt when the killer turns out to be Andy, Cassidy’s boyfriend who was the valedictorian during the graduation.

While the movie reassembles the mix of both The House Bunny and Final Destination, the suspense of the movie turns out to be mediocre. Sorority Row is a poor remake of the original film. Still, it is highly entertaining to watch especially when the girls start to scream.

My ratings: 5 out of 10.

Popularity: 1%

A Perfect Getaway is a thriller about two couples on a vacation in Honolulu, Hawaii but discover that psychopaths are killing tourists on the islands.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Milla Jovovich, Steve Zahn, Timothy Olyphant, Kiele Sanchez in "A Perfect Getaway"

Cliff (Steve Zahn) and Cydney (Milla Jovovich) are a newly wed couple and celebrates their honeymoon in Hawaii by hiking to a faraway beach. Along the way, they meet Cleo (Marley Shelton) and Kale (Chris Hemsworth) and later, a group of hikers who discuss about a couple who murders another couple in Honolulu. Feeling unsafe, Cliff and Cydney decide to join another couple Nick (Timothy Olyphant) and Gina (Kiele Sanchez) to continue to hike towards the remote beach.

Throughout the journey, Nick and Gina display brutal actions that show they could be the killers. At one point, Cleo and Kale are arrested by the police and it is revealed that Kale’s bag has a Dentyne Ice box full of human teeth. When the couples finally reach the beach, Cliff invites Nick to kayak to a distant cove. Gina begins going through the Cydney’s wedding video and finds a slide that reveals that Cliff and Cydney are actually impostors. She hurriedly waves to Nick to ask him to come back, but Nick cannot hear her and tell her he’ll be back by sunset. Panic, Gina runs along the beach towards the cove, while Cydney, knowing something’s wrong, pursues her.

Then, there are a series of flashbacks that show Cliff and Cydney are the killers — they kill newly weds, pull off all their teeth, cut off their fingers, take their rings and impersonate as them. And it was Cliff who planted the teeth in Kale’s bag.

Gina arrives on top of the cove and sees Cliff is about to shoot Nick. Cliff, who’s actually Rocky, shoots Nick in the head as Nick’s boat capsizes and fires a few shoot at Gina too but he misses. Cydney reaches the top of the cove and wrestles with Gina but she trips and falls into the water. Gina’s phone rings and it appears that an Indian telemarketer is calling from AT&T. Without hesitation, Gina asks for help. When Cliff and Cydney find that out, Cydney quickly rows the kayak back to the beach while Cliff pursues Gina. As predicted, Nick’s alive as he’s saved by his titanium skull plate and continues to run after Cliff. Cliff kills a group of hikers but is surprised that Nick’s still alive as he slices Cliff’s hand with a knife. Cydney manages to flag down a police helicopter and convinces him that she is the victim.

Although in the beginning, Cydney tells the police’s sniper that Nick is the killer, in the end, when Nick drops his weapon, Cydney reveals to the cops that Cliff is the actual killer as he tries to reach for the gun. The sniper shoots and kills Cliff instantaneously.

In the helicopter, Nick proposes to Gina but the two agrees not to have a honeymoon simultaneously.

Overall, A Perfect Getaway is a cheap thrill despite the fact that it is predictable. Sometimes, the movie seems to be written by a eleventh grade student with all the twists and turns. Still, it is fun and entertaining to watch. At one point, Cliff displays his frightened self as he googles for the “Honolulu murder” whereas he turns out to be the actual killer. This only shows how deep he has embraced himself with a new identity. How fun.

My ratings: 7 out of 10.

Popularity: 1%

The Final Destination, also known as Final Destination 4 is the fourth movie in the Final Destination series. It is also the first Final Destination movie that was shot in HD 3-D.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Andrew Fiscella, Shantel VanSanten and Bobby Campo in "The Final Destination"

Unlike its prequels, The Final Destination has a promising start with Nick O’Bannon (Bobby Campo) having a premonition on the freak accidents that’s bound to kill everyone in a racetrack stadium known as McKinley Speedway. While he manages to save his friends along with a few other spectators who follow Nick, the remaining people in McKinley Speedway are killed.

While Nick’s friends are glad they are alive, Nick keeps having premonition that shows him clues on how the next person is going to die. And from there on, the movie gets stale and predictable. Though it’s exciting to watch how people are killed, the movie becomes unoriginal by borrowing the way the victims die from the previous films as Death comes to collect the remaining survivors.

Perhaps, with the movie intentionally made for 3-D, the script is somehow largely ignored and the storyline becomes boring and predictable.

Overall, The Final Destination is the lousiest film among all Final Destination movies and it can be well the worst film of 2009.

My ratings: 3 out of 10.

Popularity: 1%

I Love You, Beth Cooper is a comedy movie based on the novel of the same name and stars Hayden Panettiere as Beth Cooper.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Laurene Landon, Hayden Panettiere, Lauren Storm, Paul Rust and Jack Carpenter in "I Love You, Beth Cooper"

Hayden Panettiere, we all known her from “Heroes”. In I Love You, Beth Cooper, Hayden plays a lead cheerleader yet again (not surprising). This time around, she needs no heroes to save her. Instead, she’s the hero who saves high school valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) twice. On the graduation day, Denis is persuaded by his best friend, Rich Munsch (Jack Carpenter) to confess his love for Beth Cooper as it is now or never. And he did. At the same time, he has also talked too much, offending a snobbish girl, a big bully and an army named Kevin who happens to be Beth’s boyfriend.

After the ceremony, Denis invites Beth to his pathetic graduation party before he gets his ass kicked by Beth’s boyfriend, Kevin.

Back home, Denis parents leave the two boys alone as they have a “vacation” plan. Mr. Cooverman lets his son have a bottle of champagne and even tells him where he keeps the condom.

Both Denis and Rich wait for Betty to show up though Rich knows it’s a dead cert she won’t turn up. He was wrong, as a matter of fact, she did turn up with two of her best friends, Cammy and Treece tagging along.

Afterwards, Beth’s former boyfriend, Kevin shows up at Denis’ house with his bulky friends as they try to kill Denis. And the chase begins, three maniacs pursue two losers and three cheerleaders. The adventures are surely fun ala Superbad style, you know, dorks get pursued and there are tonnes of funny moments ensue.

Although I Love You, Beth Cooper is another teen movie, it is a light-hearted comedy that’s never short of fun and excitement. The teenagers have a fun outings and good times together. So did I.

My ratings: 7 out of 10.

Popularity: 1%

Up is an animated comedy adventure film by Pixar Animation about a cranky old man and his adventure to South America with a boy scout. The film was released on May 29, 2009 in USA and is scheduled for release on October 9, 2009 in the UK.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Russell, Carl Fredricksen, Dug, Alpha in "Up"

Like most Pixar movies, the movie starts with a short film — in this instance, Partly Cloudy is the name of the short film. The movie Up begins with Carl Fredricksen as an 8-year-old boy who is timid despite his love for famed explorer named Charles Muntz. When he meets an eccentric girl named Ellie who shares the same interests as him, Ellie welcomes Carl to her club and gives him a badge which happens to be a soda cap. Ellie expresses her desire to move her clubhouse to Paradise Falls in South America and she makes Carl to promise her that.

As they grow older, Ellie and Carl get married and work as a zookeeper and a toy balloon vendor respectively. Not able to have children, Ellie and Carl save up for a trip to Paradise Falls but due to other financial obligations, their savings keep fading. When Ellie passes away due to old age, Carl becomes bitter. Carl is forced to move as the city has grown around his house but he refuses and when he accidentally hits a construction worker, the court orders Carl to move into a retirement home. Carl comes up with a scheme of his own as he attaches 10,000 helium balloons to his house to lift it up. Up above in the sky, when Carl tries to sit down on his armchair, he finds Russell, a Wilderness Explorer knocking at his door. Russell is trying to earn his final merit badge for “Assisting the Elderly” and has been hiding in his porch after Carl sends him for a snipe hunt on the previous day.

And so it begins, the adventure of a lifetime. Carl and Russell meets many colorful characters including a giant bird which Russell names Kevin and Dug, a dog whom can speak with a translating collar. They finally meet a 92-year-old Charles Muntz who stays in South America to find a giant bird to clear his reputation after being called fraud. The giant bird Charles is looking for happens to be Kevin, Russell’s newfound pet. When Carl realizes Charles will hunt down anyone relentless just to capture the bird, they escape from Charles airship.

Like most of Pixar Animation movies, Up is funny and touching. The film builds around a strong and never-give-up will of Ellie which later on transfers to Carl and from there, Carl turns out to be heroic when he saves Russell and the giant bird while granting Ellie her wish. It turns out Ellie has furnished her Adventure Book with photographs of her and Carl together since their wedding days with a message on the last page telling Carl to have a new adventure of his own.

Overall, Up is a yet another brilliant and adventurous animated film from Pixar. I’m sure it touches many hearts and will touch many more.

My ratings: 9 out of 10.

Popularity: 1%

District 9 is a sci-fi thriller by Peter Jackson directed by Neill Blomkamp.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Sharlto Copley in "District 9"

District 9 opens with a short documentary-style interview footages which cover the alien spaceship which hovers above Johannesburg, South Africa. After months without contact, humans take initiative by cutting into the ship only to find prawn-like aliens mostly malnourished or sick. These aliens are then housed in a government camp called District 9.

The movie then starts after 20 years of the alien’s arrival. District 9 has slowly turned into a slum and the situation is out of control as humans want the aliens out, therefore, an organization called Multi-National United (MNU) takes over with the interest in aliens’ advanced weaponry rather than the aliens’ welfare.

An MNU field employee, Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is promoted to undertake the task to move 1.8 million aliens to a new District 10 camp located more than 200 km from Johannesburg. Wikus is exposed to a mysterious alien device which squirts a dark liquid on his face. Soon after, Wikus’ left arm mutates into alien-like claw and is taken into custody by the MNU with series of experiments performed on him. When the MNU decides to harvest his body for biological material, Wikus fights back and escapes from MNU.

During his bid to hide from the MNU, he ends up in a shack belonging to an alien called Christopher Johnson whom Wikus has taken the alien device from. Christopher explains to Wikus he needs the device to fuel his shuttle to return to the mother ship. Christopher also tells Wikus that with the mother ship, he can fix Wikus’ mutated arm. Wikus then pays a visit to a Nigerian criminal gang to buy the weaponry he needs but when the Nigerian discovers Wikus “prawn” arm, they intend to chop if off for their nutritious benefit. Wikus manages to grab a highly advanced alien weapon and blast it at the gang disintegrated a few Nigerians in the process.

Wikus and Christopher then storm into MNU in order to retrieve the fuel device. With their advanced weaponry, they manage to retrieve the fuel device but while there, Christopher has discovered that MNU have been experimenting on his people. When they return to Christopher’s shack, Christopher tells Wikus he needs at least three years to fix Wikus’ arm. Furious, Wikus knocks Christopher down in order to power the ship by himself. His attempt fails when MNU manages to destroy one of the shuttles engines and the shuttle crash lands inside District 9. Thereafter, MNU mercenaries and the Nigerian thugs begin to fight over the possession of Wikus van der Merwe. Although, the Nigerian manages to capture Wikus, Christopher’s son Little CJ gains control of a mechanized battle suit located in the Nigerian camp and wipes out the entire gang in order to rescue Wikus.

Wikus returns Christopher a favor by donning the battle suit and assisting him to escape to the shuttle. Christopher promises Wikus that he will return in three years time while Wikus continues to destroy all that stand in his way. When Wikus finally falls and is ejected from the suit, the leader of the MNU mercenaries point a gun on Wikus at point blank range. Then, by some means, aliens begin to surround the mercenary before they disassemble him.

Christopher and his son manage to reach the mother ship and evacuate Earth while it is shown Wikus has finally transformed into a alien as he waits for Christopher’s return.

Overall, District 9 is one of the most thrilling films in 2009 even though it combines documentary-style of Cloverfield, the slums of Slumdog Millionaire rather than being just an ordinary alien movie.

My ratings: 9 out of 10.

Popularity: 1%