.: December Movie Marathon :.

So, December is probably the month that I have watched the most movie, and definitely the month where I paid the most for the movies I have watched (as opposed to the ones I won).

So, here’s a summary of the December flicks:

The Hobbits : An Unexpected Journey

I suppose this is one of the highly anticipated movies of the year, next to The Dark Knight Rises. Being a fan of Peter Jackson’s LOTR Trilogy, I could hardly give this a miss, so I dragged the poor Husband (whom, I swear, is the only man alive that has not watched LOTR!) to catch this movie with me at Citta Mall’s MBO*. I was forewarned that the movie, to some, it seems to be a letdown, I suppose this is especially when you have an epic movie like LOTR to meet up to. I personally enjoyed it, and the Husband somewhat didn’t hate it (win!). It’s true that it does not have the WOW factor that was projected by LOTR, but the Hobbits is one of the better movies this year!

Les Miserables

This is a movie where you either love or hate; as oppose to being neutral. The movie is based on a musical which is in turn based on a book written by Victor Hugo in French, with a cast like Russell “Gladiator” Crowe, Hugh “Wolverine” Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried. I personally find the singing less impressive, it was good, but somewhat lacking the strong vocals one would get if watching, say, a Broadway production. Nonetheless, it tugs one emotional string, and as I tried to hold back my tears at a couple of scenes, some cinema-goers beside me weren’t as shy, taking out tissues after tissues to wipe dry their tears. I must really take my hats off to Hugh Jackman for a wonderful performance as Jean Valjean! IMHO, he deserves the win for Golden Globe Award for this (this movie has four nominations, by the way!)

Life Of Pi

Directed by Ang Lee and also having three nominations at the Golden Globe, this movie is another adaption of a novel by Yann Martel, a Canadian Man Booker Prize Award winner for said novel. At surface level, it’s a remarkable story of an Indian boy, named after a swimming pool in France, travelling in a Japanese ship to Canada. Escaping the storm in a small lifeboat, the story continues with the journey of Pi and a Bengal tiger with an Englishman name, Richard Parker. At a deeper level, the movie’s central theme subtly threads around religion and faith of mankind in God. Something to think about. When Pi asked writer of the two stories told, and which did he prefer, the writer replied “The one with the tiger. That’s the better story.” To which Pi replied “Thank you. And so it goes with God”, summing up the entire novel/movie.

Upside Down

In one sentence, loved the concept (of a world where dual gravity exist) but hated the storytelling. A supposedly love story, but the romance was somewhat underdeveloped and underplayed and seriously lack chemistry (hate it when that happens in a romance movie!). The storyline was all over the place, switching from one to another, it was just plain confusing and frustrating. The graphic was great, and the night scenes of the two worlds are beautiful, but, unfortunately was not enough to save the movie. I would give this movie a miss, given the aplenty choice of movies to catch this year end!

*MBO Citta Mall is my new favourite place to catch a movie, namely because
(i) it is not so crowded (one can get decent seats for an over-the-counter ticket purchase for the latest movie (and the cinema is a quarter occupied),
(ii) parking aplenty (no need to go round and round in circles fighting over parking spots) and it’s free (for now)!
(iii) air-cond is just nice for my liking, not too hot, but not freezer cold
(iv) new amenities!

For showtime details, check out Cinema Online website here!