Brilliant. Hands down. Well deserved. One of the good races so far in the season. The full standing available here.

Why so serious?

I really do not feel like penning down my miserable take on this movie for I know I’ll do it no justice at all. At all! Every single minute of the 153 short minutes were worth double the ticket price. It was simply mind blowing, a perfect concoction.

The last time I watched a superhero movie with more than one villain (think Spider-man 2 & 3), the plot and storyline went awry. It was as if the writer couldn’t decide on whom the focus should be on. This however, with so many other sub stories going on at the same time, managed to pull everything together.

But overall, think as many on the world wide web has echoed, Heath Ledger performance as The Joker was simply brilliant! Definitely made all the previous Jokers looked like, well, clown.

I really wish to continue writing my take on this, but the tremendous pleasure and excitement that continues to linger in me after more than 24 hours of watching it, I think I should stop writing.

After all, WHY SO SERIOUS? 9.5/10.0

Maybe we have really watched them all, maybe just.

Yet another comic book adaptation. Not going to go into lengthy review of this. Just want to highlight that, 30 minutes into the show, you should start seeing similarities in the plot, framing, characters development, choreograph, heck even the CG monsters! Maybe it’s really because there is an overdosed of fantasy films for the past decade. Or maybe it’s because it’s by Guillermo del Toro Góme who brought us Pan’s Labyrinth.

But nevertheless, it’s quite entertaining if you are able to forgive all the above have-seen-it-all. A weak 5.0/10.0 from me I guess.

Given how high profile Banksy is, I do not doubt that there would be a documentary about him very soon. Heck, perhaps after a while, we will see a Hollywood interpretation of him. Or hopefully, not Hollywood. Anyway, who is Banksy?

Disappointing.

Before I went into the show, I already knew that the show is only the first half - where the climatic events will only occur in the second - but I nevertheless gave it a go. Having read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, I must say I have enough background information, and lots of expectation going into the movie. And perhaps, this was why I felt that disappointed!

The Battles at Red Cliff was certainly one of the many climatic moments in the novel and hence having it being brought to the big screen was definitely great! It’s also one of the many parts of the novel where strategies were played out at their greatest. Heck, I didn’t see any of them - okay, there was one single battle formation though.

This episode after all focused on introducing all the characters and their alliances and their skills. However, I think it was a bit too much trying to build the background. I don’t believe that by watching Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and Zhou Yu (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) build up such a strong relationship going to increase the viewers’ affection. Why? For I believe many of us are a familiar enough with part of the history - fictional or not - and for those that are unfamiliar, think they would have gone home more bewildered on what was happening. Truth be told, when the credit rolled, the whole cinema was mumbling away.

The second thing which I found disturbing (that’s more than disappointing) is the portrayal of the heroes being super gung-ho! I always knew they’re heroes, but they ain’t your comic super heroes for goodness sake!

Anyway, to have such a lengthy introduction in trying to build onto the finale battle, think it’s definitely over killed. 4.0/10.0 from me.

Did a two days road trip to Melaka. A company trip actually. Definitely a good break from the endless hours in office. Think that’s precisely what the big boss had in mind when he made that sudden announcement to hit the road within a week time.

Instead of a road trip, guess might want to declare it as a Food Trip. Think that’s more aptly. The first convoy of 3 cars arrived on Saturday noon. Ole Sayang was the menu. Then Jonker Walk, Dim Sum, Ampang Balik, Wantan Mee & Satay Celup. Was hunting for fresh Yao Char Guai, but couldn’t find any. The next day saw Melaka Big Pau, Nasi Lemak, Bak Kut Teh, Chicken Rice Ball, Cendol, Asam Laksa & Portuguese Settlement.

Of course, we were joined by our KL counterparts and that totaled ourselves to near 40 pax! It’s simply a good refresh!