Screen Hotties

OK, to kick off the new year, I'm adding a new type of post to my blog - HOTTIES! 

I hope you all would enjoy it as much as I enjoyed putting this together.

I'd try to stick to a predictable format so you all can more or less know what to expect from each of my rants. So, I'm starting off with Screen Hotties (so in the future, I may move on to Sports Hotties, Corporate Hotties,...well, you get the picture.) 

I'd also try to make it a little interesting by having these posts in 2 or more sections:

Retro Hotties (Male & Female)

Retro doesn’t mean the people in my list are old, just that I first came to be aware of them before the year 2000. 

Contemporary Hotties (Male & Female)

Similarly, Contemporary basically means that I came to be aware of these celebs from the year 2000 and onward.

Over-rated Hotties (Male & Female)

This is of course a very subjective matter and as everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, so I’m entitled to mine. I just think that these celebs are hot but not as hot as people seem to think or claim.

Contemporary Hotties:

Male: Chris Evans

As a comic geek (c'mon, if you're reading this blog you should already know that I'm a huge comic geek right?). So when the Fantastic Four movie came out in 2005, I had to watch it. That's when I first came across Chris. Again, as a geek, it's no surprise I'd be there for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer* (2007). 

Of course, he acted in many more movies but as a comic geek, these were the ones that stuck in my mind:

- The Losers (2010) with another hottie - Zoe Saldana & Idris "Heimdall" Elba (why I included The Losers here is because it is also based on a comic book under the Vertigo label. Yupz.)

- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

- The Avengers (2012)

*Since I was a wee kid, up until today, Silver Surfer is one of my ALL-TIME favourite heroes (along with a few others like Beta Ray Bill, ROM and a few more...)

And as if you didn't already know this, he's going to reprise his role as the Sentinel of Liberty in the following 2 movies:

- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (aka Captain America 2)

- The Avengers: Age of Ultron (aka Avengers 2)Female: Cobie Smulders

Not having watched a single episode of How I Met Your Mother, I didn't know that she wasn't new to the entertainment industry. I first took notice of her when I first saw her in The Avengers (2012). And boy, did she blow me away! I just thought she's very pretty.

Of course, her fans can now get more of Cobie from the Avengers movie spin-off TV Series - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

She will soon be appearing in the 2 upcoming movies that I'm geekily awaiting with bated breadth.
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (aka Captain America 2)
- The Avengers: Age of Ultron (aka Avengers 2)Retro Hotties:
Male: Jim Caviezel

The first time I ever took notice of him was in Frequency (2000) with Dennis Quaid (I remember this movie to be quite good. Will watch again soon and hopefully, I will do a Retro Review of it), followed by movies such as Angel Eyes (2001) with fellow hottie Jennifer Lopez and The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) with Guy "Momento" Pearce (which I actually quite enjoyed).

Despite having good acting chops, somehow, he didn't quite make it to the Mega-Star status as how Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp have done.

The biggest one for Jim I believe was Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (2004). He then acted in movies like Unknown (2006) with Barry Pepper & Greg Kinnear and Outlander (2008) with Ron "Hellboy" Perlman, but they didn't make any waves at the box-office.

I don't watch this TV Series but I'm glad to note that he's back in action in the highly acclaimed & currently still running Person of Interest.Female: Madeleine Stowe

I first came to notice this beauty from the some of the more notable movies from the 1990s, namely:

- The Last of the Mohicans (1992) with Award-winning Daniel Day Lewis

- Unlawful Entry (1992) with the oft-under-appreciated Kurt Russell & "Always the villain" Ray Liotta

- The cult-classic - Twelve Monkeys (1995) with Bruce "John McLane" Willis

Well, for me, this hottie kind of fell off the spotlight in the early 2000s after The General's Daughter (1999). Thankfully, she's currently back in the limelight again with the TV series that's fast gaining popularity - Revenge.Over-rated Hotties:

Male: Leonardo DiCaprio

OK, I knew what I was getting into when I decided to do this section because no matter what, my choices would anger the fans of the hottie I choose for this category. So,...with a heavy heart & gritted teeth, I do this for all of you...

Leonardo DiCaprio. Extremely talented actor and a multiple award winner. And I even admit that while he was much younger, I'd agree that he was quite a hottie. However, despite that, I'll have to say that the years have not been very kind to dear ol' Leo.

Of course, many of us first came to know about him from the mega movie: 

- Titanic (1997) with Kate Winslet

and more recently, the twisted and mind-boggling movies like:

- Inception (2010) with Joseph "Robin(??)" Gordon-Levitt 

- Shutter Island (2010) with Mark "Hulk" Ruffalo

and of course, the latest one that everyone's talking about:

- Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Female: Kirsten Dunst

I first came to see her when she was very young, in movies like Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) & Jumanji (1995), altho' back then I had no idea who she was.

But I guess she would "best" be remembered for her role in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man Trilogy (2002, 2004, 2007) with Tobey Maguire. I really hated (Yup, HATED...) the way she portrayed Mary Jane Watson despite all the praises everyone was heaping on the Spider-Man movies. 

Anyway, many profess her beauty but I strongly disagree. I guess I can say she can look pretty provided she doesn't show her teeth because they just look really horrible. 

I recently saw her in Upside Down (2012) with Jim Sturgess.

Movie Review - Safe House

Movie Title

Safe House

Year
2012
Genre

Police, Action, Thriller

Story
Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) - a living legend amongst the espionage community, who had been branded a traitor by the CIA and had managed to elude capture for years. suddenly surrenders himself at the Cape Town US Consulate.


Viewers are privy to the fact that Frost has obtained a top-secret file with dirt on some very powerful people within the espionage community making him #1 Enemy of the world's major intelligence agencies.


Eagerly trying to get some field experience, Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds), a rookie CIA agent assigned to the very same Cape Town "Safe House" where Frost is headed, awaits his chance to have his first "House Guest", read CIA captive, the the armed escorts and interrogators.


Within a couple of hours, the Safe House is breached by a group of armed-to-the-teeth killers. Everyone in the Safe House gets brutally taken out, leaving Matt no choice but to get the House Guest away from the kill zone. They then race against time to find out who's behind these killings and why before they end up dead!

Acting

Denzel (such a cool name) & Reynolds turn in pretty good performances. While some complain that the movie didn't really make full use of the acting skills of other great actors like Vera Farmiga (last seen in Source Code with Jake Gylenhall) & Brendan Gleeson (last seen as Prof Mad­Eye Moody in Harry Potter - Goblet of Fire) BUT, I disagree! Good actors know what they contribute to a movie and when not to steal the limelight from others. And this IS a movie about the 2 main men - Denzel & Ryan!

Overall

The slightly grainy camera-work adds a gritty element of realism into the whole viewing experience. Meanwhile, the pace of the show never lets up from the get go. Viewers are drawn in from the very beginning! 

This movie also introduces (well, to me at least) big screen's new version of Megan Fox (Read Hottie!) in Nora Arnezeder who play's Weston's love interest. She's easy on the eyes and perhaps may annoy fewer people than Megan Fox.

I must say that the fight scenes are pretty brutal and realistic! Kudos to the fight choreographers and the actors themselves for pulling off the scenes so convincingly! The fights don't look choreographed and are messy, making them extremely realistic. Even the car chase scenes were done pretty well.


Although I won't say this is a must watch but there isn't any recent action flick this good recently. I can see myself watching this again.


Rating: 7/10

Movie Review - Whiteout

Movie Title
Whiteout
Year
2009
Genre
Action, Suspense, Comic Adaptation

Story
The movie starts 50 odd years ago, with a few Soviet soldiers trying to kill each other over some mysterious loot on a plane flying over the Antarctica. Their actions causes the plane to crash in the desolate Antarctic wasteland.

Cut to the present where U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale),, ready for a transfer back to warmer climate, is just 3 days away from leaving the Antarctic research complex before the winter arrives (that would leave the continent in darkness for the next 6 months). However, a dead body is discovered at remote location on the continent and piloted by resident pilot, Delfy (Columbus Short), she flies there to perform her investigative duty. As this is Antarctica's first ever homicide, the United Nations wanted the case “handled” well, and Robert Pryce (Gabriel Macht, whom we last saw in the Spirit. *), a UN investigator, is brought in to assist.

*Review for the Spirit: http://jmerb.blogspot.com/search/label/Comic%20Hero

In the course of her investigation, she encounters the murderer, a mysterious bad guy, clad in winter-gear & wielding a pickax in temperatures of -55 (note the negative!). Although she manages to escape the assailant‘s clutches in their first encounter, the scuffle causes her to lose two fingers to frostbite.

All this leads to a final showdown with the murderer after the entire research facility and staff have left Antarctica. Those who were, due to contextual circumstances, stranded behind were Carrie’s trusted friend, Dr John Fury (Tom Skerritt), the pilot Delfy, UN investigator Pryce, Carrie and of course the villain!

Flashbacks were liberally inserted thru’out the movie to shed some light on Carrie’s battered self-confidence and trust issues due to some bad stuff that went down with her partner in Miami, Florida.

Acting
The acting is all around believable (can’t really say the same for the physics applied for the story environs) except for Gabriel Macht as Agent Pryce, whom I find to be quite stiff.

The villain was a little over the top (kinda like how Samuel Jackson and Al Pacino are over the top).

Overall
Some viewers may not know that this is yet another movie that is based on a comic book of the same name by writer Greg Rucka.

Kate looked absolutely stunning in the movie. Audiences may find it a tad hard to believe Kate as a US Marshall based in Antarctica where temperatures are sub-zero on a good sunny day. So it would be impossible for people to be moving around a snowstorm with their noses and mouths exposed (see photos).

The Flashbacks in various lengths repeated several times over the course of the movie weren’t used effectively and were quite distracting instead of helpful. The frostbite effects and CSI & autopsy processes were a tad too graphic.

Aside from those gripes, I quite enjoyed the movie despite it getting a lot of flak from the reviewing community.

Rating: 6/10

Movie Review - Unknown

Not knowing has never been this rivetting Movie Title
Unknown
Year
2006
Category (Current/Recent/ Blast from the Past)
Blast from the Past
Genre
Suspense Thriller

Story
The movie opens with 5 unconscious men in an abandoned warehouse in the middle of a desert. It is evident that they had all been in a skirmish as one of them is shot while handcuffed to a railing, another is bound in a chair, while 3 others were on the floor bruised and battered. One by one, they awaken but none of them remember who they were or why they were there. Jean Jacket (James Caviezel) was the first to awaken and start to try and figure things out. As the others, including Rancher Shirt (Barry Pepper) & Broken Nose (Greg Kinnear) begin to stir, the viewers start to piece together that this was a kidnapping case gone extremely wrong. Nobody (including the viewers) knows who the victims or the kidnappers were. What makes the movie so intriguing is that tiny morsels of info on the 5 gentlemen’s background are thrown in via flashbacks (their respective memory resurfacing in pieces) makes the viewers want to find out who they were and what exactly brought them to that point in the movie (plus how did they lose their memory?). Of course, the mystery unravels as the movie progresses and you will eventually find out what happened.

This is a good watch because it doesn’t portray characters as clear-cut good/bad guys. You are kept guessing until the very end and even then, it is open to interpretation. This is because the ending has a revelation that compels the viewer to interpret what had actually gone before and make a call as to who the actual villain is in the movie.

Acting
Great acting from the main cast. I had always enjoyed Caviezel & Pepper’s acting. I tend to watch almost anything that has Caviezel in it. Movies such as Passion of the Christ, Count of Monte Cristo & Frequency come to mind.

Overall
It is a pity that this movie (and quite a few others of this quality) didn’t make it to our cinema circuits.

It’s a very good watch. Kept me at the edge of my seat right up till the very end. Good way to spend 1.5 hours. I recommend it.

Rating: 6.5/10

Movie Review - Street Kings

Movie Title
Street Kings
Year
2008
Category (Current/Recent/ Blast from the Past)
Recent
Genre
Police Action

Story
An above average police flick with ample bits of LA realism thrown in for good measure (read: expletives and gun violence). However, there are elements here and there that are a little predictable.

Keanu Reeves plays Detective Tom Ludlow, part of a police team that takes out the city scum as judge, jury and executioner. He, however, usually does these activities alone. Backed by his boss, Captain Jack Wander (Forest Whitaker), who condones these activities as a necessary evil to protect the city. There are others in the force who disagrees with their methods. One particular case resulted in Captain James Biggs (Hugh Laurie) of Internal Affairs investigating Ludlow for one of the cases that resulted in the death of Ludlow’s ex-partner, incriminating Ludlow in the process.

Detective Paul Diskant (Chris Evans) ends up helping Ludlow with the case (ie: getting some payback to the KILLERS) and there are a few twists that keep the viewers guessing till the end.

Acting
Credible acting from the cast. Altho’ it felt a little odd seeing Keanu in the first few minutes of the movie because for me, when ever I see him, it always reminds me of the Matrix Trilogy (which by the way is the best Sci-Fi trilogy in the past decade). He does a credible job portraying a redemption-seeking Detective Ludlow.

It was also refreshing to see Chris Evans play a serious role (‘cos I have only seen him clowning around in Fantastic 4 I & II. Let’s not even mention Sunshine.)

Overall
Good cop flick but if you’re queasy with violent scenes or the language, this may not be exactly for you. I have watched quite a few very good cop flicks (like LA Confidential and HEAT) and that’s the sole reason I’m not giving it a very high score.

Rating: 6/10