Movie Review - Ghost Rider Spirit Of Vengeance

     

     Went and see the movie a few days back and there's ONE thing I can say towards the end of the show, IT'S MEDIOCRE!. I was quite disappointed with the overall outlook as it was based mostly in a Eastern Europe setting. Movies that was made in Eastern Europe scenery's and outlook RARELY made it to the box office somehow other than the Bond movies.

     So here we are, part 2 of Ghost Rider with the story line has that Johnny Blaze ran away from his home town and escaped to Eastern Europe so that he can escape his past and find a way to stop the 'demon' from coming out at night to punish evil and turn him all fiery. But, somehow he ran into a friend called 'Moreau' who is somehow a devout 'Christian' who's knowledge can eventually help him throughout the movie(and also his skills in using guns!). This time, the DEVIL himself somehow wants to exist in human form with all his powers intact. In this movie, based on the narrator, the devil can transform himself to look like a human, but his powers are limited due to the body's inability to inherit the DEVILS original powers. However, this is all about to change when the devil made a deal with a girl whose in a near-death condition, an exchange for her life, she has to give her baby once she has a son, to him, so he can be transferred to the boy's body. 

Moreau on his bike

     The story starts with a group of Christian priests trying to protect the boy from being kidnapped by a group of mercenaries hired by the Devil. Obviously the priests failed in the process and the boy was indeed kidnapped. This 'Moreau' guy showed up and tried to give chase to the kidnappers but failed. He then approached Johnny Blaze who was then hiding in an abandoned factory. After some convincing from Moreau to Johnny that he needs to save this boy, Johnny Blaze a.k.a Ghost Rider, transformed that night and went searching for the boy. Amazingly he found the boy with great ease, ( a GPS maybe? ) and fought a the group of kidnappers. 

     In this movie, it can be easily seen that Ghost Rider can be indeed be slowed down by heavy weaponry such as bombs or missiles as it been proven in the movie. He ended up in the hospital afterwards. Nursing injury which somehow cured itself. 

'Christopher Lambert' makes a surprising appearance. Its been awhile !

     The story dragged on to the point that I was almost half-asleep until 'Christoper Lambert' showed up casted as the lead-monk whose job is supposedly to protect the boy but instead he had other ideas and wanted to get rid of the boy once and for all. 

     The finale fight ended up in somewhere they called 'The furthest point from heaven', in a small town in Eastern Europe ( cant seem to remember it! ) and they fought and fought and somehow prevented the boy from turning into the Devil. Moreau died in the process. 

     The storyline was somehow very straight-forward and very much predictable at some point, but it has its strong points somehow. Ghost Rider 3 ? I wouldn't bet on it. Just more yawns from me at the cinema. 

     

A Knack for Malay & Indonesian songs

     If you really know me well enough, you really do know that I was never an avid fan of Malay or Indonesian songs. But all that is about to change as recently I've picked up this nasty habit of listening to them...and especially romantic soppy songs. Trust me, this is even very much 'NEW TERRITORY' for me. But somehow, their songs soothe me more than English songs at the moment. It brings more sense somehow or maybe the songs really can describe how I actually feel at that particular moment or what I'm going through at certain points in my life. Since I'm a Malay guy after all(never forget ur roots!), maybe the songs make me feel closer down to earth..just the sentimental ones...ROCK ones suck..except Awie songs...

Turn Back Time

I guess the world is nearing its end. Things that should be is not going the way it should be. And I'll be the first person to be damn glad that if it actually ends. We don't have to work anymore, relieved of all responsibilities and when I mean "responsibilities" it includes debts, loans, and etc. 

     Regret is a word that usually being used to un-do the things that you have done. You know in your heart that you could have done it in a better way but you didn't. But in my case, I did regret a few things that I did in my life, and I mean it. When I think about it back, if only it was different, if only I would've listened to people, and did proper research on certain matters first before making rash decisions that actually CHANGED my life. 

     If only I could turn back time. Why did I...If only I could...If only....It was a mistake....

   

A dedication...Anuar Zain - Cinta Harus Memiliki

A dedication. You know who you are.

Anuar Zain – Cinta Harus Memiliki

Sejauh ku berlari
Meninggalkan dirimu
Masih bayangmu yang menawan

Sekuat ku mencoba
Melupakanmu kasih
Lalu Mengapa ku tak sanggup

Pre Chorus:
Adakah waktu tak berpihak
Atau memang sudah jalannya
Untuk kita terpisah
Selamanya

Chorus:
Ku tak percaya kata
Cinta tak harus memiliki
Lalu mengapa?
Hati terasa sakit

Sekeras ku berfikir
Mencari alasannya
Semakin jatuh ku terluka

Adakah waktu tak berpihak
Atau memang sudah jalannya
Untuk kita terpisah
Oh…

Chorus:
Ku tak percaya kita
Terpisah karena berbeda
Ku cuma berdiri kaku hampa
Kau didakap mesra si dia
Semuanya pudar tak bermaya

Kau tinggalkanku memujamu
Ibarat suria hilang cahaya

Chorus:
(Dan kau kembali cuba merawat hati)
(Ku bingung dikau kah atau aku yang kecewa)
Meraih simpati
Apa yang mengaburi tafsiranmu
Cintaku atau batas kebebasanmu itu
Takkan ku ulangi

(Dan kau kembali cuba merawat hati)
(Ku bingung dikau kah atau aku yang kecewa)
Meraih simpati
Apa yang mengaburi tafsiranmu
(Cintaku) atau batas kebebasanmu itu
Takkan ku ulangi

When Human Resource breaks down

     This article you are about to read does not point to anyone in particular. If you feel that you ARE that person who reacted in the same manner I will be describing below, working in some 'FREAKING' company, then please be mature about it and look forward to changing your perception on your staffs. 

   

     If somehow, by any chance, the current condition the company you are working for is not favoring your causes, then by all means, DO NOT TAKE IT ON YOUR STAFF. You must be wondering who am I referring to rite ? The position I am referring to is the most important position of all positions in any company that is big enough which is the HR Manager's position. The HR Manager's job in the company is so important that he is basically the person who is responsible for the success and downfall of any company. Just think about it, he is the guy who decides whether a new recruit is suitable for the company, or vice versa.  He is also responsible to ensure that the flow of communication between low-level workers and the top management is intact. 

A HR Manager should show a good example and 

not the other way round !

     With all this facts that I have stamped down, just imagine, for one sweet second, that the person who is occupying in that position, have his/her own agendas on why he is actually sitting there. In other words, he/she is CORRUPTED. Just imagine, an anti-virus that is infected with a virus. An anti-virus functions as to kill all viruses and now since its the one being corrupted/infected with a virus, its functions has been manipulated to do various bad/unknown/good unpredictable things. I don't even want to start writing on the part where he/she has misused the power bestowed upon him. One thing for sure, a professional HR Manager should not be the one threatening and giving out threats saying things like "I should have gotten rid of you when I had the chance" or "Make sure the MC is valid or else..." when that person is "STILL" currently on sick leave. Where's the professionalism in that ? What kind of impression are you going to give to your employees?. Another is having favoritism over a certain staff that he/she is fond to. Just because you have a certain liking in terms of either friendship or certain levels of closeness to a particular person, does not mean that you have to only focus on those circles. What about the rest of us ? You don't like us !? That doesn't mean you don't have a job responsibility to the rest of us anymore ?

     The same goes for a company who has a HR Manager that has his/her agendas and it conflicts with the staffs and company's interests especially when it comes to fighting for employee's rights and benefits. A manager who has conflicting interests will really affect so many staff and will cause unrest within the organization as their pleas will go on deaf ears. Once the means of communication breaks down between the employees and top management, the employees will start to have all kinds of misconception on the top management on why things are not going as it is suppose to be. People who should be rewarded, did not get rewarded and people who should not get rewarded for not performing, stays the way they are. But who are we to decide whose performing and not performing ? We are not the HR Manager are we ?. 

Movie Review - Captain America

I have been looking forward to this movie ever since I saw the trailer a few months back in February 2011. I really liked what I saw as Steve Rogers a.k.a Captain America ( played by the excellent Chris Evans ) really took his Captain America role pretty well despite critics saying he's already had a role in an another superhero outfit as the 'Human Torch' in Fantastic Four.

As usual, wifey bought the first day tickets at E-Curve. Arrived at The Curve at approximately 7.30 PM and started window shopping before hitting the movies. Since we already had the tickets, there was no rush to buy them beforehand or shall I say 1 hour before the show starts. When we arrived at the cinema around 9 pm, around 15 minutes before the show starts, I was puzzled to see the counters are almost empty with no queues lining up to watch this movie since its the first day ! Its really odd knowing us Malaysians are really suckers for superhero movies but then again, this was not to blame since that very same night, the Malaysian football Team is playing the Singapore National Team for the 2nd round qualifiers for the World Cup 2014.

At 9.15 pm, we both checked in the cinema and got to our seats. The movie started with a group of people searching and they found a crashed plane in the middle of a snowy area. After cutting a hole in the plane, they found at the cockpit of the crashed plane the Shield with the Captain America logo on it giving us the assumption something bad must have happened to Captain America at the end of the show.

It all started with Steve Rogers, who has a "totally failed physique"

Movie Review - Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Pt 2 finale

To be able to watch this movie on the first day of its official launch is a big privilege nonetheless thanks to my beloved wife who made the effort to go all the way sacrificing her sacred one hour lunchtime to go to Cineleisure, Mutiara Damansara to buy the movie tickets. She managed to get us a beautiful couple seat in Row C for a 9.10 pm show(cant thank her enough for buying first day tickets for major shows!).

"I have always wanted to say that"

As usual, the movie started exactly where it left of in Part 1, with Voldemort ransacking the coffin of Dumbledore to obtain the "Elder Wand". The adventure soon after that involves Harry Potter, Ron and Hermione, finally deciding that the next step to further finding the next Horcrux lies in the pits of Gringotts. With the help of Griphook, a goblin who used to work at Gringotts, they managed to break into Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. The adventure then leads to them heading to Hogwarts for their face-off with their current headmaster, Severus Snape. The storyline does somehow shorten from the novel but this can't be helped as the show was only going for 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Voldemort and his death-eaters expecting Harry to turn up..

There a few flashbacks that showed Severus Snape when he was young, with the help of CGI, he looks a bit like a transsexual dude, but I guess that's how it is. The important part is the storyline anyways!. This part of the Harry Potter sequel does tell that it emphasizes more on action and fights with spells flying everywhere and the Death Eaters attacking Hogwarts with a big major finale. The acting from Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, is always superb and also the "long awaited kiss between Hermione and Ron" was nothing short of quality.

To cut things short, it is a great finale for a great series that has been around since I was small and it grew with me and for most of us, Harry Potter and his adventures lived inside our hearts and now its time for us to let him go. Not to forget, the movie did end with Harry and his friends sending their children to Hogwarts for magic education. THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS.