LESLIE'S MOVIE REVIEWS

It really has been a long time since I have posted anything here. I don't really have time for movies and don't really want to watch any movies. I have been missing a number of movies that I really wanted to watch. Sometimes, I don't even know what movies have I missed. I have stop chasing after the latest movies and stick with the old movies instead. Fortunately for today, I get to spend some of my time in the cinema to watch The Avengers which is  also known as Avengers Assemble.

Directed by Joss Whedon.
Starred by Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L.Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, Cobie Smulders and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Forgive me for missing two of the superhero movies, Captain America and Thor which eventually lead to The Avengers. However, I suppose you don't really need to watch all the Marvel superhero movies to understand this movie unless you really want to know every details of the superheroes. I read some of the comics about the Marvel superheroes when I am still a kid. To be honest, I was kind of excited when I heard that The Avengers was in production. I would really like to see the Marvel superheroes come together as a team and go against the evil that want to conquer the world but at the meantime, I was kinda worried that the movie would spoil the image of the Marvel superheroes. Remember how Batman & Robin failed badly and Christopher Nolan had to save the series with Batman Begins?  However, I am surprised with The Avengers as it exceed beyond my expectations.

The movie begins with some quick scenes of how Loki come to the Earth in order to rule it. I guess the first few scenes are just formality to bring you through the recruitment of The Avengers. As usual, actions scenes are always in the middle of the movie and you will get to see more of the actions scenes as the movie is going to end. I would said that Hulk's action scenes are the best of all actions scenes in the movie. The scene where Hulk beat Loki up got the audiences in the cinema clapping and cheering. I gotta admit that was some nice ass-kicking scene. It was funny, stylish and cool at the same time for the big guy to beat up the other guy for provoking him.Well, he kinda deserve some ass-kicking. Other than that, the actions scenes are kinda tense and exciting at the same time just like the usual actions scenes in the superheroes movie.

Adding up to the humorous side of Robert Downey Jr. as Ironman in the movie, it really made the movie funnier than I thought it would be. There were some funny scenes especially the feud between the Hulk and Thor but I have to give most of the credit to Robert for being a superhero and a funny one at the same time. You got to love how Robert Downey can make you laugh just by words and some facial expression instead of using slapstick type of comedy. There are some parts which were actually funny in example, Thor speaks of some creatures when he is on the ship but it seems that the audience don't really like it that much compared to Robert's comedy scene.

One thing in the cast which I am really not satisfied with is The Hulk. Why did the actors for the Hulk kept changing? Eric Bana, then Edward Norton and now Mark Ruffalo. They gotta stick with one actor for The Hulk just like Robert Downey Jr. being Ironman for three times in the row and it is going to be the fourth time for him in the upcoming Ironman 3. Luckily, all the actors for The Hulk are actually good and fit the character well. Other than that, it is good to see Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye. I have always liked his acting performance since 28 Weeks Later. Not much to comment on others but I am happy to see the most of the cast sticking to their roles for the second time. It is not really pleasing to see your superhero being played by different actors film after film.

Being a nice superhero movie, this movie deserve much more recognition than this. I do not mean awards but much more positive critical reception and more of it. You got a line of stars to play your favourite superhero and they excel in their acting making the movie something much more reality-like. Good cinematography which almost every action scenes are breath-taking. Funny scenes that can reduce your tension and stress. What do you want more than an all-rounded movie?

3.5 stars.

Well, since I did not really visit any cinema recently, I guess I missed a couple of great movies. My reviews will always be outdated. So, don't expect any recent movies' reviews from here for the meantime. Today, I am writing a review about a South Korean film called Sector 7 which was released on 4th of August in South Korean. It is kinda late for this movie's review but just to fill in the empty spot in my blog.

Directed by Kim Ji-hun.
Starred by Ha Ji-won, Ahn Sung-ki and Oh Ji-ho.

This movie is about oil rig Sector 7 which has a monster living in it. Crews are unable to find oil there thus decided to evacuate after giving up. Some crews including the captain are left behind as Ahn Sung-ki as Ha Ji-won's uncle visited them. They decided to stay behind and search for oil. However, an accident happened and a crew died. The oil rig is in chaos as more people died. Ji-won's uncle motive of coming here and staying behind is known after he told the story of the monster that escaped in Sector 7. At last, everyone died trying to escape from the monster. Ji-won is the only survivor and rescue came on time to save her from the oil rig as it self-destructed.

This movie's plot is quite nice and original. Who would thought of having a monster in an oil rig? The only thing that matters is the development of the plot. There are few unnecessary scenes that are inserted to build up the mood of the movie. I would said that some scenes have quite good scenery and nice moment. However, some additional scenes are quite time consuming and boring to watch as the plot develops. The worst part of the movie is the visual effects. I am really disappointed with the visual effects in the movie. The green screen is too obvious especially in the motorcycle race scene between Ha Ji-Won and Oh Ji-ho. Looks real amateur. The monster is being done with good effect but not as good as the monster in another famous South Korean film called 'The Host'. However, the camera works are quite good and it is a waste using such good camera works but having poor development of the plot. Poor development of plot and amateur editing.

Only a few actors and actresses that really acted well in the movie. The emotion expressed by the casts are not enough to emphasize the situation of the scene. The main cast did quite a good job there, I would said. Other than that, they should have changed the casts to a better actors and actresses. The dialogues are written poorly. Even some of the 'B' grade movies that I have watched had much more better dialogues than the dialogues in the movie. It seems to me that they rushed to finish this movie with cheesy dialogues and poor acting performance. Not impressed at all with the acting performances and the script.


I do not have much to write about this movie. This movie disappointed me despite having some beautiful scenes in the oil rig especially during the sun set scene. However, I can't even determine the genre of this movie at all. If it is horror film, the scenes aren't even horrifying enough. If it is thriller film, it isn't even thrilling for me. If it is mystery film, where are the mysteries? I guess this film is done poorly despite some good special effects of the monster.

The soundtracks and sound effects are also being used wrongly in the scenes. It is all kinda messed up in the movie. I would said that the only thing that make me continue watching the movie is the main cast's acting and the awesome lighting portrayed in the movie plus good camera works. Everything seems too cheesy in the film and poorly done. Not a really good movie but this movie is enjoyable without any sense of suspense. So, I would recommend this to anyone that would love to watch some cheesy movies with quite a good special effects on the monster. Other than that, I think it would be better spending those time finding for a better monster movie.


1 star.

Recently, I have been listening to Korean pop songs and found out that the Hallyu Wave is getting stronger as K-pop seems to be the trends nowadays. I started to watch some Korean horror movies and the first Korean horror movie I watched was Park Chan-Wook's Cut from the Three... Extremes. I must say that I am impressed with the horror movie and decided to watch more Korean movies. Unexpectedly, the movies impressed me so far and I can say that those Korean classic movies are probably at the same standard as the Hollywood classic movies. Awesome stuff, I would say. The Korean movie I watched recently was White: The Melody of the Curse.

Directed by Kim Gok and Kim Sun.
Starred by Han Eun-Jung, May Doni Kim, Choi Ah-Ra and Jin Se-Yeun.


This movie was released around June. So, you can say that I am outdated since I have only watched recently. Well, it is released this year which I assumed that I still can write a review about it although it is quite outdated. The plot of movie is about a rookie Korean girl group trying hard to success in their singing career but there aren't really much positive response to their song. One day, they move to a new studio and Eun-Jung found a tape labelled as 'White'. The manager started to use the song and the girl group performed the song as their own song not knowing that there is some curse with that song. The four member groups start to have misfortune happened to them as they all wanted to be the main except for the leader and the founder of the tape, Eun-Jung. Noticing something wrong with the song, Eun-Jung try to find out the solution to stop the curse when it comes to her turn to become the main. She thought she solved and got rid of the curse when she started to realizing something wrong during her preparation for her next performance. Her friend solved the mystery and went to save her but it is too late. At last, her friend burned the CD of Eun-Jung's debut titled White at a karaoke lounge when the song 'White' appeared on the screen.

The plot is quite original and well-planned. There are quite a number of flaws in the plot. Well, I would say that the plot isn't really that strong although it is original. Scenes can be more frightful and scary. There aren't really much of horror in the movie. There should be more horror scenes in the movie. Probably I expected too highly of this movie. The scenes that are supposed to be scary can be more horrifying. I think the director try to keep down the sense of horror to enable the public to watch the movie regardless of the age. Effects are quite fake but it did frightened me at some point. The movie is planned in a way that it tried to scare off the audience like an old horror movie with a lot of solo shots of the actress or actor being alone and haunted by the ghosts. Nicely done. It did create the suspense and build up the tone of the horror movie there.

The actress didn't really did their best there but I would consider the acting performance good. Han Eun-Jung is a K-pop singer from T-ara that is quite famous with songs such as Bo Peep Bo Peep, Roly Poly, Cry Cry and so on. Her acting performance is quite good in the movie. I like her expression and emotion in the movie. She played her role nicely. Other actresses and actors did their job nicely but there aren't really much to credit about for their performance. There are some solo shots that I am not really satisfied with but I would say that it is still okay for a horror movie.

Soundtrack are being used wrongly in this movie. Don't get me wrong. The sound effect and soundtrack are quite good but it isn't the right sound effect and soundtrack that should be used in this movie. Probably this is the aspects that I don't like about this movie. Soundtracks and sound effects help determine the horror level of a horror movie as well. It was poorly done in the movie, I would say. They should include more frightening sound track that can get the audience to have goosebumps. That's a pity since the scenes are quite good but the soundtrack pull down the level of horror in the scenes.


This movie is quite good and deserved to be labelled as a 'horror' movie. Quite nicely done there. I like the originality in the movie although the scenes can be more frightening. I would recommend this to people that like to watch horror or thriller movie. Remember, don't expect too much for this movie . Just enjoy the horror moment of this movie and eat some popcorn while you are at it.



2.5 stars.

Finally I am back to writing my first review since I came to Manchester. It has been months since my last post. I have been busy with my preparations to Manchester and busy with my studies for these past few weeks. My class today had a seminar at one of the cinemas in Manchester and we have to watch a movie today. Therefore, I got the chance to watch ' We Need To Talk About Kevin' and write this review.

Directed by Lynne Ramsay.
Starred by John C.Reilly, Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller.

This movie is about a troubled teenager and his relationship with his family. As usual, you can check out the plot or the synopsis of the movie online. The plot seems quite interesting at first. It starts off with a strong sense of artistic and mystery. I like the development of the plot although it may seems boring due to its artistic scenes. The story did not reveal the whole plot directly but slowly brings the audience into understanding the whole movie until the last scene. This kind of movie will keep audience seated the whole time in order to understand the movie as each scenes bring flashback and also shows the current situation of the troubled teenager's family. I would say that this kind of editing seems a little bit like 'The Social Network' if anyone remember this highly-acclaimed movie. The scenes in 'The Social Network' reveals the whole story by telling scenes of the current situation of the founder of Facebook and the development of his past actions in making Facebook. So, the movie 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' uses this technique to catch the audience's attention by showing flashback among the scenes. I would say that this technique is quite a good technique to be use especially in mystery films. Perfect technique to get the audience's attention. However, to be honest, I got a little bit sleepy between the scenes as I watch the movie. I understand that the director is using sense of artistic to develop the story. It is indeed a creative way but it will be a boring way to some of the audiences that like something less artistic. Good technique but too much of sense of artistic being used there.

In the movie, the actors and actresses are obviously perfect in their performance. The casts are strong as John C. Reilly and Tilda Swinton are both previous Academy Awards nominees for the acting performances. I wouldn't be too surprised if their acting performances surpassed of what I expected. Ezra Miller portrayed the troubled son in the family that ended up killing a lot of people including his dad and sister. Awesome evil acting from him. I like his evil stare and grin. Perfect cast for the movie. When I say perfect cast, I am also talking about the minor characters that are being portrayed in the movie. The child that played the troubled son during the childhood done his job quite good. No question for their acting skills. This probably will be another factor that can keep the audiences seated for the whole movie.

As I watched the movie, I realized that this movie is quite unique compared to other mystery movies that are quite straight-forward to the point so that the story can be sold easily. The sense of artistic that are being applied in the movie made the movie unique. Scenes are stitched in a perfectly timed order to let the audience keep track of the movie and understand the movie. Not too confusing and not too overdone. Brilliant , I would said. If I have to criticize the movie, I would said that the first few scenes are quite unnecessary although it does bring the sense of artistic and slowly develop the plot. I don't really think I want to watch a woman being tossed in tomato sauce and a lot of people playing in tomato sauces which then lead to a story of a troubled family. Artistic, indeed. Sense, not really.


If there is a point in the movie that make the movie worse, I would say soundtrack. I don't like most of the soundtracks that are being applied in the scenes. It doesn't match the mood and tone of the scenes. Soundtracks are a strong aesthetic for mystery, thriller and horror movie. If you are messing with the soundtracks and try putting sense of artistic into the soundtrack, I don't really think it would match the movie. A horror movie with perfect soundtrack would be movie like 'The Shining'. Soundtrack that matches the scenes are important to build up the environment and create suspense for the audience. This time, the movie's soundtrack disappoint me. Sorry to say that but I don't like the soundtrack despite the soundtrack matches the sense of artistic in the scenes.


Lastly, I would said that this movie is quite good. However, it is being directed with sense of artistic which made it a slow paced movie. It is creative and unique but at the point that it is not really commercialized like some horror movies that straight reveal its plot to the audiences.

Recommended to people that like slow paced drama movies and mystery or thriller movies.



3.5 stars.

Directed by Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego.